Overview of the Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (LEGEND)

The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) would show that lepton number is violated and reveal that neutrinos are Majorana particles.  Further, a discovery-capable experiment covering the inverted ordering region, with effective Majorana neutrino masses of 15 - 50 meV (depending on the specific model), requires an experiment utilizing about a ton of isotope with excellent energy resolution and extremely low backgrounds, at the level of ∼0.1 count /(FWHM⋅t⋅yr) in the region of the signal. The current generation experiments GERDA and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR that use high purity germanium detectors enriched in ⁷⁶Ge with an intrinsic energy resolution of 0.12%, have achieved the lowest backgrounds in the 0νββ signal region of all 0νββ experiments. Building on this success, the LEGEND collaboration has been formed to pursue a ton-scale ⁷⁶Ge experiment. The collaboration aims to develop a phased 0νββ experimental program with discovery potential at a half-life approaching or at 10²⁸ years.  This talk will provide an overview of the phased approach for LEGEND and a discussion of the current status and design.