265 research outputs found
Direct determination of the solar neutrino fluxes from solar neutrino data
We determine the solar neutrino fluxes from a global analysis of the solar
and terrestrial neutrino data in the framework of three-neutrino mixing. Using
a Bayesian approach we reconstruct the posterior probability distribution
function for the eight normalization parameters of the solar neutrino fluxes
plus the relevant masses and mixing, with and without imposing the luminosity
constraint. This is done by means of a Markov Chain Monte Carlo employing the
Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. We also describe how these results can be
applied to test the predictions of the Standard Solar Models. Our results show
that, at present, both models with low and high metallicity can describe the
data with good statistical agreement.Comment: 24 pages, 1 table, 7 figures. Acknowledgments correcte
Probing Dark Matter
Recent novel observations have probed the baryonic fraction of the galactic
dark matter that has eluded astronomers for decades. Late in 1993, the MACHO
and EROS collaborations announced in this journal the detection of transient
and achromatic brightenings of a handful of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
that are best interpreted as gravitational microlensing by low-mass foreground
objects (MACHOS). This tantalized astronomers, for it implied that the
population of cool, compact objects these lenses represent could be the elusive
dark matter of our galactic halo. A year later in 1994, Sackett et al. reported
the discovery of a red halo in the galaxy NGC 5907 that seems to follow the
inferred radial distribution of its dark matter. This suggested that dwarf
stars could constitute its missing component. Since NGC 5907 is similar to the
Milky Way in type and radius, some surmised that the solution of the galactic
dark matter problem was an abundance of ordinary low-mass stars. Now Bahcall et
al., using the Wide-Field Camera of the recently repaired Hubble Space
Telescope, have dashed this hope.Comment: 3 pages, Plain TeX, no figures, published as a News and Views in
Nature 373, 191 (1995
Nuclear reactions in the Sun after SNO and KamLAND
In this brief review we discuss the possibility of studying the solar
interior by means of neutrinos, in the light of the enormous progress of
neutrino physics in the last few years. The temperature near the solar center
can be extracted from Boron neutrino experiments as: . The energy production rate in the Sun from pp chain and CNO cycle, as
deduced from neutrino measurements, agrees with the observed solar luminosity
to about twenty per cent. Progress in extracting astrophysical information from
solar neutrinos requires improvement in the measurements of \\ and .Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of Beyond the Desert '03, Fourth
International Conference on Physics Beyond the Standard Model, Schloss
Ringberg, Germany, June 9-14, 200
The "Solar Model Problem" Solved by the Abundance of Neon in Stars of the Local Cosmos
The interior structure of the Sun can be studied with great accuracy using
observations of its oscillations, similar to seismology of the Earth. Precise
agreement between helioseismological measurements and predictions of
theoretical solar models has been a triumph of modern astrophysics (Bahcall et
al. 2005). However, a recent downward revision by 25-35% of the solar
abundances of light elements such as C, N, O and Ne (Asplund et al. 2004) has
broken this accordance: models adopting the new abundances incorrectly predict
the depth of the convection zone, the depth profiles of sound speed and
density, and the helium abundance (Basu Antia 2004, Bahcall et al. 2005). The
discrepancies are far beyond the uncertainties in either the data or the model
predictions (Bahcall et al. 2005b). Here we report on neon abundances relative
to oxygen measured in a sample of nearby solar-like stars from their X-ray
spectra. They are all very similar and substantially larger than the recently
revised solar value. The neon abundance in the Sun is quite poorly determined.
If the Ne/O abundance in these stars is adopted for the Sun the models are
brought back into agreement with helioseismology measurements (Antia Basu 2005,
Bahcall et al. 2005c).Comment: 13 pages, 3 Figure
Solar Neutrinos: Status and Prospects
We describe the current status of solar neutrino measurements and of the
theory -- both neutrino physics and solar astrophysics -- employed in
interpreting measurements. Important recent developments include
Super-Kamiokande's determination of the neutrino-electron elastic scattering
rate for 8B neutrinos to 3%; the latest SNO global analysis in which the
inclusion of low-energy data from SNO I and II significantly narrowed the range
of allowed values for the neutrino mixing angle theta12; Borexino results for
both the 7Be and pep neutrino fluxes, the first direct measurements
constraining the rate of ppI and ppII burning in the Sun; global reanalyses of
solar neutrino data that take into account new reactor results on theta13; a
new decadal evaluation of the nuclear physics of the pp chain and CNO cycle
defining best values and uncertainties in the nuclear microphysics input to
solar models; recognition of an emerging discrepancy between two tests of solar
metallicity, helioseismological mappings of the sound speed in the solar
interior, and analyses of the metal photoabsorption lines based on our best
current description of the Sun's photosphere; a new round of standard solar
model calculations optimized to agree either with helioseismology or with the
new photospheric analysis; and, motivated by the solar abundance problem, the
development of nonstandard, accreting solar models, in order to investigate
possible consequences of the metal segregation that occurred in the proto-solar
disk. We review this progress and describe how new experiments such as SNO+
could help us further exploit neutrinos as a unique probe of stellar interiors.Comment: 82 pages, 11 figure
Neutrino Mass and Oscillation
The question of neutrino mass is one of the major riddles in particle
physics. Recently, strong evidence that neutrinos have nonzero masses has been
found. While tiny, these masses could be large enough to contribute
significantly to the mass density of the universe. The evidence for
nonvanishing neutrino masses is based on the apparent observation of neutrino
oscillation -- the transformation of a neutrino of one type or "flavor" into
one of another. We explain the physics of neutrino oscillation, and review and
weigh the evidence that it actually occurs in nature. We also discuss the
constraints on neutrino mass from cosmology and from experiments with negative
results. After presenting illustrative neutrino mass spectra suggested by the
present data, we consider how near- and far-future experiments can further
illuminate the nature of neutrinos and their masses.Comment: 43 pages, 8 figures, to appear in the Annual Review of Nuclear and
Particle Science, Vol. 49 (1999
Hot and Cold Dark Matter Search with GENIUS
GENIUS is a proposal for a large volume detector to search for rare events. An array of 40-400 'naked' HPGe detectors will be operated in a tank filled with ultra-pure liquid nitrogen. After a description of performed technical studies of detector operation in liquid nitrogen and of Monte Carlo simulations of expected background components, the potential of GENIUS for detecting WIMP dark matter, the neutrinoless double beta decay in 76-Ge and low-energy solar neutrinos is discussed
Hot and Cold Dark Matter Search with GENIUS
GENIUS is a proposal for a large volume detector to search for rare events.
An array of 40-400 'naked' HPGe detectors will be operated in a tank filled
with ultra-pure liquid nitrogen. After a description of performed technical
studies of detector operation in liquid nitrogen and of Monte Carlo simulations
of expected background components, the potential of GENIUS for detecting WIMP
dark matter, the neutrinoless double beta decay in 76-Ge and low-energy solar
neutrinos is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, latex, 3 eps figures, requires svmult.cls. To appear in:
Proceedings of "Sources and detection of dark matter in the Universe", Marina
del Rey, CA, February 23-25, 2000, Springer 2000, edited by D. Clin
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