CUORE is a underground neutrino experiment in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. We investigate whether or not neutrinos are their own anti-particles by searching for a process called "neutrinoless double-beta decay" in Telurium-130. This process violates the currently known laws of physics and, if detected, would be the slowest process ever observed. Because of this, we have to have an
utlra-quiet environment, one with 1400m — almost a mile — of rock overhead. To operate CUORE, we produce the coldest cubic meter in the known universe, cold enough that we can see the interactions of individual atoms at a macroscopic level. In recent years we have built and analyzed data from the prototype bolometric detector CUORE-0, building on the experience of a predecessor experiment, Cuoricino. The next stage, planned to start operations in 2016, is the largest ultra-cold bolometric detector ever built: CUORE. Several experiments have searched for 0νββ decay using increasingly advanced technologies. So far, none have seen a clear and reproducible 0νββ decay signal. The next generation of experiments will use ton-scale detectors, with superb energy resolution and exquisitely low backgrounds in the energy region of interest. If observed, the experimental signature would be quite clear but very rare.
