Achievable neutrino mass limits from calorimetric beta spectroscopy

Our current research program aims to measure the mass of the electron antineutrino by its effect on the shape of the tritium beta decay spectrum near the end point. The beta source is encapsulated inside a cryogenic microcalorimeter such that only the neutrino escapes, and we measure the total energy released in each decay, minus the neutrino energy. The ultimate limitation on such a measurement comes from the statistics of pileup in the energy region near the end point. We discuss the required detector characteristics, and the mass limit which can be achieved.