Neutrino mass from beta decay

The investigation of the endpoint spectrum of the tritium β decay is still the most sensitive direct method to determine the neutrino mass scale. The KATRIN experiment currently being set up at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe will improve the neutrino mass sensitivity compared to the previous Mainz and Troitsk experiments by one order of magnitude down to 0.2 eV/c2. The first generation of cryobolometric experiments at Genova and Milan using the isotope 187Re will be followed up by the MARE experiment which aims to eventually reach a similar sensitivity.