The determination of the properties of the neutrino is one of the most pursued goals of physics. The series of MEDEX Conferences, which started ten years ago, is devoted to the update of the experimental and theoretical information related to the nuclear double beta decay, which is the process that may, if observed, be the tool to answer the fundamental questions related to the neutrino mass scale. MEDEX is a unique forum for theoreticians and experimentalists active in the field.

In the last 20 years the disciplines of particle physics, astrophysics, nuclear physics and cosmology have grown together in an unprecedented way. A brilliant example is nuclear double beta decay, an extremely rare radioactive decay mode, which is one of the most exciting and important fields of research in particle physics at present and the flagship of non-accelerator particle physics. While already discussed in the 1930s, only in the 1980s was it understood that neutrinoless double beta decay can yield information on the Majorana mass of the neutrino, which has an impact on the structure of space-time. Today, double beta decay is indispensable for solving the problem of the neutrino mass spectrum and the structure of the neutrino mass matrix. The potential of double beta decay has also been extended such that it is now one of the most promising tools for probing beyond-the-standard-model particle physics, and gives access to energy scales beyond the potential of future accelerators. This book presents the breathtaking manner in which achievements in particle physics have been made from a nuclear physics process. Consisting of a 150-page highly factual overview of the field of double beta decay and a 1200-page collection of the most important original articles, the book outlines the development of double beta decay research theoretical and experimental from its humble beginnings until its most recent achievements, with its revolutionary consequences for the theory of particle physics. It further presents an outlook on the exciting future of the field.

The fourth edition of this book has been widely revised. It includes additional chapters and some sections are complemented with either new ones or an extension of their content.In this latest edition a complete treatment of the physics and properties of semiconductors is presented, covering transport phenomena in semiconductors, scattering mechanisms, radiation effects and displacement damages. Furthermore, this edition presents a comprehensive treatment of the Coulomb scattering on screened nuclear potentials resulting from electrons, protons, light- and heavy-ions — ranging from (very) low up to ultra-relativistic kinetic energies — and allowing one to derive the corresponding NIEL (non-ionizing energy-loss) doses deposited in any material.The contents are organized into two parts: Chapters 1 to 7 cover Particle Interactions and Displacement Damage while the remaining chapters focus on Radiation Environments and Particle Detection.This book can serve as reference for graduate students and final-year undergraduates and also as supplement for courses in particle, astroparticle, space physics and instrumentation. A section of the book is directed toward courses in medical physics. Researchers in experimental particle physics at low, medium, and high energy who are dealing with instrumentation will also find the book useful.

This book, like the first and second editions, addresses the fundamental principles of interaction between radiation and matter and the principles of particle detection and detectors in a wide scope of fields, from low to high energy, including space physics and medical environment. It provides abundant information about the processes of electromagnetic and hadronic energy deposition in matter, detecting systems, performance of detectors and their optimization.The third edition includes additional material covering, for instance: mechanisms of energy loss like the inverse Compton scattering, corrections due to the Landau?Pomeranchuk?Migdal effect, an extended relativistic treatment of nucleus?nucleus screened Coulomb scattering, and transport of charged particles inside the heliosphere. Furthermore, the displacement damage (NIEL) in semiconductors has been revisited to account for recent experimental data and more comprehensive comparisons with results previously obtained.This book will be of great use to graduate students and final-year undergraduates as a reference and supplement for courses in particle, astroparticle, space physics and instrumentation. A part of the book is directed toward courses in medical physics. The book can also be used by researchers in experimental particle physics at low, medium, and high energy who are dealing with instrumentation.

The conference is devoted to the discussion of new theoretical and experimental results on the field of double beta decay processes. The interplay between theoretical and experimental results is crucial in order to determine the magnitude of the electron-neutrino mass and its properties.