CUPID, the CUORE Upgrade with Particle IDentification, is a proposed tonne-scale experiment for the search of neutrinoless double beta decay based on the use of cryogenic calorimeters. Currently, the isotopes 130Te, 82Se, and 100Mo are under investigation in the experiments CUORE, CUPID-0 and CUPID-Mo, respectively. An additional demonstrator experiment with 100Mo is in preparation. In parallel, the CUPID collaboration is developing several technologies for the discrimination of alpha and beta/gamma radiation through the detection of scintillation and/or Cherenkov light, and superconducting coatings of the crystals surfaces for the discrimination of bulk and surface events. I propose the optimization of the CUPID design via the development of a Monte Carlo simulation package comprising all the background discrimination technologies currently under consideration, in parallel to a coherent and systematic analysis of the data collected by the current and planned demonstrator experiments, as well as of the material screening results. Such an effort is necessary for allowing an unbiased comparison of the various available background discrimination options and represents the most robust way to guide the design of CUPID towards its maximum discovery sensitivity. This work can lead to publications concerning the comparison of the background discrimination techniques, the implementation and validation of the Monte Carlo simulations for the scintillation and Cherenkov light detection, and the design optimization for the full-scale CUPID experiment.

Giovanni Benato – Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso