Analytic treatments of matter-enhanced solar-neutrino oscillations
Mikheyev and Smirnov have pointed out that flavor oscillations of solar neutrinos could be greatly enhanced. The Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein mechanism depends on the effective electron neutrino mass that arises from charged-current scattering off solar electrons, a phenomenon first discussed by Wolfenstein. Two analytic treatments, the adiabatic approximation and Landau-Zener (LZ) approximation, have been used in studies of this mechanism. I discuss a simple extension of the LZ approximation that merges naturally with the adiabatic approximation and is free of certain troublesome pathologies that arise in the conventional treatment. In this extension the solar density is approximated as in the conventional treatment, except that the starting and ending densities are the physical ones. Results of this finite LZ approximation are compared to those from the standard LZ approximation, the adiabatic approximation, and ''exact'' numerical integrations. The new approximation is virtually exact regardless of the point of origin of the neutrino in the solar core. This approximation is used to efficiently calculate the solar-neutrino capture rates for /sup 37/Cl, /sup 71/Ga, and /sup 98/Mo. The spatial extent of the solar core, the contributions of minor neutrino species, and the effects of /sup 8/B neutrino capture to excited nuclear states are treated with care. Limits imposed on deltam/sup 2/ and sin/sup 2/2theta/sub v/ by the nonzero /sup 37/Cl capture rate are derived by considering the expected uncertainties in standard-solar-model flux estimates. Those oscillation parameters are determined that could account for the /sup 37/Cl puzzle and yet lead to a /sup 71/Ga counting rate above the minimum astronomical value.
- Research Organization:
- Institute of Nuclear Theory, Department of Physics, FM-15, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
- OSTI ID:
- 6058748
- Journal Information:
- Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. D; (United States) Vol. 35:8; ISSN PRVDA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BORON 8
BORON ISOTOPES
CAPTURE
CHARGED-CURRENT INTERACTIONS
CHLORINE 37 TARGET
CROSS SECTIONS
EFFECTIVE MASS
EIGENSTATES
ELECTRON NEUTRINOS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY LEVELS
FERMIONS
GALLIUM 71 TARGET
INTERACTIONS
ISOTOPES
LANDAU-ZENER FORMULA
LEPTON REACTIONS
LEPTONS
LIGHT NUCLEI
MASS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MOLYBDENUM 98 TARGET
NEUTRINO OSCILLATION
NEUTRINO REACTIONS
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
SCATTERING
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
SOLAR NEUTRINOS
SOLAR PARTICLES
SOLAR RADIATION
STELLAR RADIATION
TARGETS