Eur. Phys. J. D (2013) 67: 146
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2013-40110-x

Regular Article

Data analysis of Q-value measurements for double-electron capture with SHIPTRAP^*

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
² Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Im Neuenheimer Feld 226, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
³ GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
⁴ Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität, Felix-Hausdorff-Straße 6, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
⁵ Helmholtz-Institut Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, 55099 Mainz, Germany
⁶ Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, Orlova Roscha, 188300 St. Petersburg, Russia
⁷ Department of Physics, St. Petersburg State University, Ulyanovskaya 3, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia

^a e-mail: christian.roux@mpi-hd.mpg.de

Received: 28 February 2013
Received in final form: 16 April 2013
Published online: 18 July 2013

Abstract

A measurement campaign has been carried out for the search for resonantly enhanced neutrinoless double-electron-capture transitions by the determination of the Q_εε-values with the SHIPTRAP Penning-trap mass spectrometer. The Q_εε-values have been determined by measuring the cyclotron-frequency ratios of the mother and daughter nuclides of the transitions. This article describes the experimental approach and the data analysis by the example of neutrinoless double-electron capture in ¹⁵²Gd. Various effects as, e.g., temporal fluctuations and spatial inhomogeneity of the magnetic field, or the variation of the ion number in the trap were found not to affect the frequency ratio on the 1 ppb-level, which is the present statistical uncertainty.