LUCE: A Milli-Kelvin Calorimeter Experiment to Study the Electron Capture of \(^{176}\)Lu

Abstract

The LUCE (LUtetium sCintillation Experiment) project will search for the \(^{176}\)Lu electron capture based on a milli-Kelvin calorimetric approach. This decay is of special interest in the fields of nuclear structure, rare event searches, and measurements of nuclear matrix elements of long-lived isotopes. The experiment is primarily searching for a mono-energetic peak from the \(7^- \rightarrow 2^+\) forbidden transition. The current status and design of a novel cryogenic module for the measurements of the electron capture in \(^{176}\)Lu are reported on. Details of future measurement plans are presented.