Majorana neutrinos, CP violation, neutrinoless double beta and tritium beta decays

If the present or upcoming searches for neutrinoless double beta ((betabeta)(0nu)) decay give a positive result, the Majorana nature of massive neutrinos will be established. From the determination of the value of the (betabeta)(0nu)-decay effective Majorana mass parameter (\<m>\), it would be possible to obtain information on the type of neutrino mass spectrum. Assuming 3-nu mixing and massive Majorana neutrinos, we discuss the information that a measurement of, or an upper bound on, \<m>\ can provide on the value of the lightest neutrino mass m(1). With additional data on the neutrino masses obtained in H-3 beta-decay experiments, it might be possible to establish whether the CP symmetry is violated in the lepton sector. This Would require very high precision measurements. If CP invariance holds, the allowed patterns of the relative CP parities of the massive Majorana neutrinos Would be determined. (C) 2003 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".