Searching for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{76}$Ge with the LEGEND experiment*

LEGEND---The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay---is an experiment that will search for the neutrinoless double-beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay of $^{76}$Ge. The observation of this lepton number violating process would establish the Majorana nature of the neutrino, with implications for physics beyond the standard model. The \textsc{Majorana Demonstrator} and GERDA, two $^{76}$Ge experiments currently operating, lead the field in the key design parameters of energy resolution and background reduction. Building on their success, the LEGEND collaboration is developing a phased next-generation $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay search. LEGEND-200, currently ramping up, will host $\sim$200 kg of enriched HPGe detectors in the existing GERDA infrastructure at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The subsequent LEGEND-1000 detector will be a tonne-scale HPGe array with a $^{76}$Ge $0\nu\beta\beta$ half-life sensitivity greater than $10^{28}$ years. In this talk, we present the plans and physics reach of LEGEND.