 In 1939, Wendell H. Furry proposed that if neutrinos are Majorana particles, then double beta decay can proceed without the emission of any neutrinos, via the process now called neutrinoless double beta decay.It is not yet known whether the neutrino is a Majorana particle and, relatedly, whether neutrinoless double beta exists in nature.In 1930–40s, parity violation in weak interactions was not known, and consequently calculations showed that neutrinoless double beta decay should be much more likely to occur than ordinary double beta decay, if neutrinos were Majorana particles.