Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in the PTOLEMY project: A theory update
A. Apponi (INFN Sezione di Roma 3, Roma, Italy, Università di Roma Tre, Roma, Italy); M. G. Betti (Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy, INFN Sezione di Roma 1, Roma, Italy); M. Borghesi (INFN Sezione di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy); A. Boyarsky (Instituut-Lorentz, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands); N. Canci (INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, L’Aquila, Italy); et al - Show all 60 authors
We discuss the consequences of the quantum uncertainty on the spectrum of the electron emitted by the -processes of a tritium atom bound to a graphene sheet. We analyze quantitatively the issue recently raised by Cheipesh, Cheianov, and Boyarsky [Phys. Rev. D 104, 116004 (2021)], and discuss the relevant timescales and the degrees of freedom that can contribute to the intrinsic spread in the electron energy. We perform careful calculations of the potential between tritium and graphene with different coverages and geometries. With this at hand, we propose possible avenues to mitigate the effect of the quantum uncertainty.