Does the Sun appear brighter at night in neutrinos?
- School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)
We calculate accurately the number of solar neutrino events expected as a function of solar zenith angle, with and without neutrino oscillations, for detectors at the locations of Super-Kamiokande, SNO, and the Gran Sasso National Laboratory. Using different Earth models to estimate geophysical uncertainties, and different solar models to estimate solar uncertainties, we evaluate distortions predicted by the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effect in the zenith angle distributions of solar neutrino events. The distortions are caused by oscillations and by {nu}-e interactions in the Earth that regenerate {nu}{sub e} from {nu}{sub {mu}} or {nu}{sub {tau}}. We show that the first two moments of the zenith-angle distribution are more sensitive to the small mixing angle MSW solution than the conventionally studied day-night asymmetry. We present iso-{sigma} contours that illustrate the potential of Super-Kamiokande, SNO, BOREXINO, ICARUS, and HERON/HELLAZ for detecting the Earth regeneration effect at their actual locations (and at the equator). MSW solutions favored by the four pioneering solar neutrino experiments predict characteristic distortions for Super-Kamiokande, SNO, BOREXINO, and ICARUS that range from being unmeasurably small to {gt}5{sigma} (stat) after only a few years of observations. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 545045
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, C, Vol. 56, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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