Effect of Coulomb collisions on time variations of the solar neutrino flux

Abstract

We consider the possibility of time variations of the solar neutrino flux due to the radial motion of the Earth and neutrino interference effects. We calculate the time variations of the detected neutrino flux and the extent to which they are suppressed by Coulomb collisions of the neutrino emitting nuclei. To properly treat the collisions, it is necessary to simultaneously include in our analysis all other significant physical decoherence effects: the energy averaging and the averaging over the position of neutrino emission. A simple and clear physical picture of the time dependent solar neutrino problem is presented and qualitative coherence criteria are discussed. Exact results for the detected neutrino flux and its time variations are obtained for both the case of a solar neutrino line, and the case of the continuous neutrino spectrum with a Gaussian shape of the energy response function of the neutrino detector. We give accurate constraints on the vacuum mixing angle and the neutrino masses required for flux time variations to not be suppressed. Pac(s): 26.65.+t, 14.60.Pq, 96.60.JwComment: 43 pages, 8 figures, 4 appendices; changed title, MSW jump probability formula and figure