Cosmic Neutrino Background detection with PTOLEMY

The PTOLEMY experiment aims at detecting the cosmic neutrino background, generated approximately one second after the Big Bang, in accordance with Standard Cosmology. Given the extremely low energy of these neutrinos, reliable experimental detection can be accomplished through neutrino captures on beta-unstable nuclides, eliminating the need for a specific energy threshold. Tritium implanted on a carbon-based nanostructure emerges as a promising candidate among the various isotopes due to its favorable cross-section and low-endpoint energy. The Ptolemy collaboration plans to integrate a solid-state tritium source with a novel compact electromagnetic filter, based on the dynamic transverse momentum cancellation concept. This filter will be employed in conjunction with an event-based preliminary radio-frequency preselection. The measurement of neutrino mass and the exploration of light sterile neutrinos represent additional outcomes stemming from the Ptolemy experiment’s physics potential, even when utilizing smaller or intermediate-scale detectors. To finalize the conceptualization of the detector, a demonstrator prototype will be assembled and tested at LNGS in 2024. This prototype aims at addressing the challenging aspects of the Ptolemy experiment.