Solving the Solar Neutrino Problem

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Beginning with Ray Davis' pioneering Chlorine measurement in the mid-1960s, and continuing up through the recent Superkamiokande ^8B measurement, all solar neutrino experiments have observed far fewer neutrinos than predicted by theory. The mystery that has remained unsolved is the reason for this discrepancy. Do we really understand energy generation in the sun? Can the solar model calculations and the experimental results be trusted? Do neutrinos have properties beyond the standard model that might explain the problem? During the 1990s, evidence, albeit indirect, continued to mount that neutrino oscillations were the most viable solution to the mystery. In addition to the precision Superkamiokande measurement, the new results included data from the SAGE and GALLEX gallium solar neutrino experiments, which are sensitive to low-energy neutrinos created by the primary proton-proton fusion process in the sun. Furthermore, improved helioseismic observations of the sun were in excellent agreement with the solar model predictions. However, there was still no direct proof that the deficit of solar neutrinos was a result of neutrino oscillations. With the publication of its first result, a measurement of the charged current interaction of ^8B solar neutrinos on deuterium, the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory has solved the mystery. By combining the SNO data with Superkamiokande elastic scattering data, there is now direct evidence that the majority of electron neutrinos created deep within the core of the sun change to mu or tau neutrinos by the time they are detected at the earth. This talk will review the solar neutrino problem and present the results of SNO. Finally, the impact of these results and the exciting consequences for neutrino physics research in the coming decade will be discussed.

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