Sensitivity of CUORE to Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay

We study the sensitivity of CUORE, a bolometric double-beta decay experiment under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. Two approaches to the computation of experimental sensitivity are discussed and compared, and the formulas and parameters used in the estimation of the sensitivity are provided. Assuming a background rate of 10^-2 cts/(keV kg y), we find that, after 5 years of live time, CUORE has a 1 sigma sensitivity to the neutrinoless double-beta decay half-life of T_1/2(1 sigma) = 1.6 \times 10^26 y and thus a potential to probe the effective Majorana neutrino mass down to 41-95 meV; the sensitivity at 1.64 sigma, which corresponds to 90% C.L., will be T_1/2(1.64 sigma) = 9.5 \times 10^25 y. This range is compared with the claim of observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge and the preferred range of the neutrino mass parameter space from oscillation results.