Particle Detection by Evaporation from Superfluid Helium

We report the first experiments in which 5-MeV alpha particles are detected via evaporation from a bath of superfluid helium. The α excites phonons and rotons in the liquid helium, and these excitations are sufficiently energetic to evaporate helium atoms when they reach the free surface of the liquid. The approximate overall efficiency of this process has been determined, and we compare this with expectations. We have also been able to detect evaporation induced by a flux of γ’s from a 137Cs source

Phonon amplification using evaporation and adsorption of helium

We report the results of experiments designed to investigate the feasibility of amplifying a phonon signal using the evaporation of helium from a superfluid film and its subsequent readsorption onto a helium-free surface. We envision a multistage amplifier in which helium is evaporated from a wafer with a helium film only on one side and then adsorbed onto the film-free surface of a similar wafer. The phonons created by the adsorption reach the film on the opposite side of the wafer and potentially desorb more helium than was evaporated by the first wafer. The amplification would come from the high ratio of the binding energy of a helium atom to a film-free surface relative to the binding energy to the liquid. A number of experiments are reported that investigate the efficiencies of the individual steps of the process. The gain per stage is found to be about 3 for high-energy densities in which multiphonon processes are possible. At low-energy densities, the energy deposited into a film-free wafer is found to be less than the original input energy, with the ratio of output to input energy 0.2. Since in applications requiring amplification the phonon density produced by the adsorption of helium on a wafer will be low, the configuration we have studied—phonons produced in silicon coated with a saturated He4 film—will not result in amplification. However, other configurations might improve the efficiency enough to make an amplifier possible

Angular Distribution of Rotons Generated by Alpha Particles in Superfluid Helium: A Possible Tool for Low Energy Particle Detection

We report measurements of the distribution of rotons generated by α particles interacting in a bath of superfluid helium. The roton flux is found to be anisotropic; it is about 4 times larger transverse to the track direction than along it. This asymmetry may provide a powerful tool in particle and astrophysics experiments where sensitivity to low energy recoil track direction is important

Implications of New Gallex Results for the MSW Solution of the Solar Neutrino Problem

We compare the implications for 7Be and pp neutrinos of the two MSW fits to the new GALLEX solar neutrino measurements . Small mixing angle solutions tend to suppress the former as electron-neutrinos, but not the latter, and large angle solutions tend to reduce both by about a factor of 2. The consequences for BOREXINO and similar solar neutrino--electron scattering experiments are discussed.Comment: 7 pages (plus 3 figures available upon request) UTAPHY-HEP-

Solar Neutrinos: Radiative Corrections in Neutrino-Electron Scattering Experiments

Radiative corrections to the electron recoil-energy spectra and to total cross sections are computed for neutrino-electron scattering by solar neutrinos. Radiative corrections change monotonically the electron recoil spectrum for incident \b8 neutrinos, with the relative probability of observing recoil electrons being reduced by about 4 \% at the highest electron energies. For $p-p$ and \be7 neutrinos, the recoil spectra are not affected significantly. Total cross sections for solar neutrino-electron scattering are reduced by about 2 \% compared to previously computed values. We also calculate the recoil spectra from $^{13}$N and $^{15}$O neutrinos including radiative corrections.Comment: 40 pages, uuencoded, Z-compress file

Solar Neutrinos: What We Have Learned

The four operating solar neutrino experiments confirm the hypothesis that the energy source for solar luminosity is hydrogen fusion. However, the measured rate for each of the four solar neutrino experiments differs significantly (by factors of 2.0 to 3.5) from the corresponding theoretical prediction that is based upon the standard solar model and the simplest version of the standard electroweak theory. If standard electroweak theory is correct, the energy spectrum for \b8 neutrinos created in the solar interior must be the same (to one part in $10^5$) as the known laboratory \b8 neutrino energy spectrum. Direct comparison of the chlorine and the Kamiokande experiments, both sensitive to \b8 neutrinos, suggests that the discrepancy between theory and observations depends upon neutrino energy, in conflict with standard expectations. Monte Carlo studies with 1000 implementations of the standard solar model confirm that the chlorine and the Kamiokande experiments cannot be reconciled unless new weak interaction physics changes the shape of the \b8 neutrino energy spectrum. The results of the two gallium solar neutrino experiments strengthen the conclusion that new physics is required and help determine a relatively small allowed region for the MSW neutrino parameters.Comment: LaTeX file, 19 pages. For hardcopy with figures contact [email protected]. Institute for Advanced Study number AST 93/6

Current Status of the Solar Neutrino Problem with Super-Kamiokande

We perform an updated model-independent analysis using the latest solar neutrino data obtained by $^{37}$Cl and $^{71}$Ga radiochemical experiments, and most notably by a large water-Cherenkov detector SuperKamiokande with their 504 days of data taking. We confirm that the astrophysical solutions to the solar neutrino problem are extremely disfavored by the data and a low-temperature modification of the standard solar model is excluded by more than 5 $\sigma$. We also propose a new way of illuminating the suppression pattern of various solar neutrino flux without invoking detailed flavor conversion mechanisms. It indicates that the strong suppression of $^7$Be neutrinos is no more true when the neutrino flavor conversion is taken into account.Comment: RevTex file, 10 pages, 7 postscript figure

How Well Do We (and Will We) Know Solar Neutrino Fluxes and Oscillation Parameters?

Assuming neutrino oscillations occur, the pp electron neutrino flux is uncertain by at least a factor of two, the ${\rm ^8B}$ flux by a factor of five, and the ${\rm ^7Be}$ flux by a factor of forty-five. Calculations of the expected results of future solar neutrino experiments (SuperKamiokande, SNO, BOREXINO, ICARUS, HELLAZ, and HERON) are used to illustrate the extent to which these experiments will restrict the range of the allowed neutrino mixing parameters. We present an improved formulation of the ``luminosity constraint'' and show that at 95\% confidence limit this constraint establishes the best available limits on the rate of creation of pp neutrinos in the solar interior and provides the best upper limit to the ${\rm ^7Be}$ neutrino flux.Comment: 37 pages, uuencoded Z-compressed postscript file (with figures); Submitted to Physical Review

Phenomenology of Maximal and Near-Maximal Lepton Mixing

We study the phenomenological consequences of maximal and near-maximal mixing of the electron neutrino with other ($x$=tau and/or muon) neutrinos. We describe the deviations from maximal mixing in terms of a parameter $\epsilon\equiv1-2\sin^2\theta_{ex}$ and quantify the present experimental status for $|\epsilon|<0.3$. We find that the global analysis of solar neutrino data allows maximal mixing with confidence level better than 99% for $10^{-8}$ eV^2\lsim\Delta m^2\lsim2\times10^{-7} eV$^2$. In the mass ranges \Delta m^2\gsim 1.5\times10^{-5} eV$^2$ and $4\times10^{-10}$ eV^2\lsim\Delta m^2\lsim2\times10^{-7} eV$^2$ the full interval $|\epsilon|<0.3$ is allowed within 4$\sigma$(99.995 % CL). We suggest ways to measure $\epsilon$ in future experiments. The observable that is most sensitive to $\epsilon$ is the rate [NC]/[CC] in combination with the Day-Night asymmetry in the SNO detector. With theoretical and statistical uncertainties, the expected accuracy after 5 years is $\Delta \epsilon\sim 0.07$. We also discuss the effects of maximal and near-maximal $\nu_e$-mixing in atmospheric neutrinos, supernova neutrinos, and neutrinoless double beta decay.Comment: 49 pages Latex file using RevTeX. 16 postscript figures included. ( Fig.2 and Fig.4 bitmapped for compression,better resolution at http://ific.uv.es/~pppac/). Improved presentation: some statements included and labels added in figures. Some misprint corrected. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev D. Report no: IFIC/00-40, IASSNS-HEP-00-5