Signal Detection Algorithms for Phase III of the Project 8 Experiment*

Project 8 is a next-generation neutrino mass experiment that uses Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES) to measure the neutrino mass. CRES is a technique for β-decay spectroscopy which measures the frequency of the cyclotron radiation produced by energetic electrons trapped in a magnetic field. The cyclotron frequency can be directly converted into the energy spectrum, which yields the neutrino mass through measurement of the spectrum endpoint. The next phase of the Project 8 experiment seeks to measure the energy spectrum of molecular tritium β-decay in an O(10 cm³)  volume, using an antenna array or an RF cavity to collect the faint radiation emitted by an electron in a magnetic field. This talk will present an overview of the signal processing algorithms that Project 8 is developing to enable free-space or cavity based CRES, including the use of matched filtering to detect the presence of CRES signals. I will also highlight progress on machine learning techniques which are designed to complement or potentially replace matched filtering as the primary detection technique.