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.
We present an update of the determination of 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 analysis 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. We then use these results to compare the description provided by different Standard Solar Models. Our results show that, at present, both models with low and high metallicit…
The precise knowledge of the atmospheric neutrino fluxes is a key ingredient in the interpretation of the results from any atmospheric neutrino experiment. In the standard atmospheric neutrino data analysis, these fluxes are theoretical inputs obtained from sophisticated numerical calculations based on the convolution of the primary cosmic ray spectrum with the expected yield of neutrinos per incident cosmic ray. In this work we present an alternative approach to the determination of the atmospheric neutrino fluxes based on the direct extraction from the experimental data on neutrino event rat…
We explore a novel possibility of determining the solar model parameters, which serve as input in the calculations of the solar neutrino fluxes, by exploiting the data from direct measurements of the fluxes. More specifically, we use the rather precise value of the $^8B$ neutrino flux, $ϕ_B$ obtained from the global analysis of the solar neutrino and KamLAND data, to derive constraints on each of the solar model parameters on which $ϕ_B$ depends. We also use more precise values of $^7Be$ and $pp$ fluxes as can be obtained from future prospective data and discuss whether such measurements can h…
We propose a simple but useful parametrization of the flavor composition of ultrahigh-energy neutrino fluxes produced from distant astrophysical sources: $ϕ^{}_e : ϕ^{}_μ: ϕ^{}_τ= \sin^2 ξ\cos^2 ζ: \cos^2 ξ\cos^2 ζ: \sin^2 ζ$. We show that it is possible to determine or constrain $ξ$ and $ζ$ by observing two independent neutrino flux ratios at the second-generation neutrino telescopes, provided three neutrino mixing angles and the Dirac CP-violating phase have been well measured in neutrino oscillations. Any deviation of $ζ$ from zero will signify the existence of cosmic $ν^{}_τ$ and $\barν^{}…
We describe the current status of solar modelling and focus on the problems originated with the introduction of solar abundance determinations with low CNO abundance values. We use models computed with solar abundance compilations obtained during the last decade, including the newest published abundances by Asplund and collaborators. Results presented here make focus both on helioseismic properties and the models as well as in the neutrino fluxes predictions. We also discuss changes in radiative opacities to restore agreement between helioseismology, solar models, and solar abundances and show…
A specific linear combination of the total solar neutrino fluxes must equal the measured solar photon luminosity if nuclear fusion reactions among light elements are responsible for solar energy generation. This luminosity constraint, previously used in a limited form in testing the no neutrino oscillation hypothesis, is derived in a generality that includes all of the relevant solar neutrino fluxes and which is suitable for analyzing the results of many different solar neutrino experiments. With or without allowing for neutrino oscillations, the generalized luminosity constraint can be used i…
Experimental determinations of the pp and pep fluxes have great potentialities. We briefly review the reasons that make such measurements privileged tests of neutrino properties. We discuss the predictions for these fluxes given by four good solutions to the solar neutrino problem: small- and large-angle MSW and Just-So oscillations into active neutrinos, and small-angle MSW oscillations into sterile neutrinos. In addition, we examine the impact of the planned Hellaz detector, which should measure separately the nu_e and nu_mu fluxes in the pp energy window and the signal from the pep neutrino…
We analyze fluctuations of the solar neutrino flux using data from the Homestake, GALLEX, GNO, SAGE and Super Kamiokande experiments. Spectral analysis and direct quantitative estimations show that the most stable variation of the solar neutrino flux is a quasi-five-year periodicity. The revised values of the mean solar neutrino flux are presented in Table 4. They were used to estimate the observed pp-flux of the solar electron neutrinos near the Earth. We consider two alternative explanations for the origin of a variable component of the solar neutrino deficit.
The He3 abundance is not constrained by helioseismic data. Mixing of He3 inside the solar core by processes not included in the solar standard model (SSM) has been recently proposed as possible solution to the solar neutrino problem. We have performed a model independent analysis of solar neutrino fluxes using practically arbitrary He3 mixing. In addition, we have been simultaneously varying within very wide ranges the temperature in the neutrino production zone and the astrophysical factors, S17 and S34, of the p+Be7 and He3+He4 cross sections. Seismic data are used as constraints, but the so…
Solar model predictions of 8B and p-p neutrinos agree with the experimentally-determined fluxes (including oscillations): phi(pp)_{measured} = (1.02 +- 0.02 +- 0.01)phi(pp)_{theory}, and phi(8B)_{measured} =(0.88 +- .04 +- 0.23)phi(8B)_{theory}, 1 sigma experimental and theoretical uncertainties, respectively. We use improved input data for nuclear fusion reactions, the equation of state, and the chemical composition of the Sun. The solar composition is the dominant uncertainty in calculating the 8B and CNO neutrino fluxes; the cross section for the 3He(4He, gamma)7Be reaction is the largest u…
Solar evolutionary models are thus far unable to reproduce spectroscopic, helioseismic, and neutrino constraints consistently, resulting in the so-called solar modeling problem. In parallel, planet formation models predict that the evolving composition of the protosolar disk and, thus, of the gas accreted by the proto-Sun must have been variable. We show that solar evolutionary models that include a realistic planet formation scenario lead to an increased core metallicity of up to 5%, implying that accurate neutrino flux measurements are sensitive to the initial stages of the formation of the …
We present a novel method to accurately determine the flux of neutrinos and antineutrinos, one of the dominant systematic uncertainty affecting current and future long-baseline neutrino experiments, as well as precision neutrino scattering experiment. Using exclusive topologies in $ν(\bar ν)$-hydrogen interactions, $ν_μp \to μ^- p π^+$, $\bar ν_μp \to μ^+ p π^-$, and $\bar ν_μp \to μ^+ n$ with small hadronic energy, we achieve an overall accuracy on the relative fluxes better than 1\% in the energy range covering most of the available flux. Since we cannot rely on simulations nor model correct…
A seismic model for the Sun calculated using the accurate helioseismic data predicts a lower $^{8}{B}$ neutrino flux as compared to the standard solar model (SSM). However, there persists a discrepancy between the predicted and measured neutrino fluxes and it seems necessary to invoke neutrino oscillations to explain the measurements. In this work, we have performed a global, unified oscillation analysis of the latest solar neutrino data (including the results of SNO charged current rate) using the seismic model fluxes as theoretical predictions. We determine the best-fit values of the neutrin…
We investigate which among the reactor antineutrino fluxes from the decays of the fission products of $^{235}\text{U}$, $^{238}\text{U}$, $^{239}\text{Pu}$, and $^{241}\text{Pu}$ may be responsible for the reactor antineutrino anomaly if the anomaly is due to a miscalculation of the antineutrino fluxes. We find that it is very likely that at least the calculation of the $^{235}\text{U}$ flux must be revised. From the fit of the data we obtain the precise determination $σ_{f,235} = ( 6.33 \pm 0.08 ) \times 10^{-43} \, \text{cm}^2 / \text{fission}$ of the $^{235}\text{U}$ cross section per fissi…
Measurements of the interaction rates of the solar neutrino lines of $^7$Be and $pep$ can be used, independent of solar models, to test whether electron flavor is conserved, to determine survival probabilities of electron-type neutrinos at specific energies, and to test for the existence of sterile neutrinos. We present analytic descriptions of these tests. We also illustrate by numerical simulations, assuming matter-enhanced and vacuum neutrino oscillations, what measurements of solar neutrino lines can teach us about neutrino masses and mixing angles.
We analyze all available solar and related reactor neutrino experiments, as well as simulated future 7Be, p-p, pep, and ^8B solar neutrino experiments. We treat all solar neutrino fluxes as free parameters subject to the condition that the total luminosity represented by the neutrinos equals the observed solar luminosity (the `luminosity constraint'). Existing experiments show that the p-p solar neutrino flux is 1.02 +- 0.02 (1 sigma) times the flux predicted by the BP00 standard solar model; the 7Be neutrino flux is 0.93^{+0.25}_{-0.63} the predicted flux; and the ^8B flux is 1.01 +- 0.04 the…
We show that uncertainties in the values of the surface heavy element abundances of the Sun are the largest source of the theoretical uncertainty in calculating the p-p, pep, 8B, 13N, 15O, and 17F solar neutrino fluxes. We evaluate for the first time the sensitivity (partial derivative) of each solar neutrino flux with respect to the surface abundance of each element. We then calculate the uncertainties in each neutrino flux using `conservative (preferred)' and `optimistic' estimates for the uncertainties in the element abundances. The total conservative (optimistic) composition uncertainty in…
By comparing neutrino fluxes and central temperatures calculated from 1000 detailed numerical solar models, we derive improved scaling laws which show how each of the neutrino fluxes depends upon the central temperature (flux $\propto T^m$); we also estimate uncertainties for the temperature exponents. With the aid of a one-zone model of the sun, we derive expressions for the temperature exponents of the neutrino fluxes. For the most important neutrino fluxes, the exponents calculated with the one-zone model agree to within 20\% or better with the exponents extracted from the detailed numerica…
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 establishe…
Triangular mass matrices for neutrinos and their charged partners contain full information on neutrino mixing in a most concise form. Although the scheme is general and model independent, triangular matrices are typical for reducible but indecomposable representations of graded Lie algebras which, in turn, are characteristic for the standard model in noncommutative geometry. The mixing matrix responsible for neutrino oscillations is worked out analytically for two and three lepton families. The example of two families fixes the mixing angle to just about what is required by the Mikheyev-Smirno…
Density and temperature conditions in the solar core suggest that the microscopic diffusion of electrons and ions could be nonstandard: Diffusion and friction coefficients are energy dependent, collisions are not two-body processes and retain memory beyond the single scattering event. A direct consequence of nonstandard diffusion is that the equilibrium energy distribution of particles departs from the Maxwellian one (tails goes to zero more slowly or faster than exponentially) modifying the reaction rates. This effect is qualitatively different from temperature and/or composition modification…
Top-of-atmosphere (TOA) cosmic-ray (CR) fluxes from satellites and balloon-borne experiments are snapshots of the solar activity imprinted on the interstellar (IS) fluxes. Given a series of snapshots, the unknown IS flux shape and the level of modulation (for each snapshot) can be recovered. We wish (i) to provide the most accurate determination of the IS H and He fluxes from TOA data alone, (ii) to obtain the associated modulation levels (and uncertainties) while fully accounting for the correlations with the IS flux uncertainties, and (iii) to inspect whether the minimal force-field approxim…
We consider the most general solar model, using the neutrino fluxes as free parameters constrained only by the solar luminosity, and show that the combined solar neutrino data exclude any astrophysical solution at 98\% C.L.\ Our best fit to the $^7$Be and $^8$B fluxes is respectively $<$7\% and 37$\pm$4\% of the standard solar model prediction, but only with a large $χ^2$ (5.6 for 1 d.f.). This best fit to the fluxes contradicts explicit nonstandard solar models, which generally reduce the $^8$B flux more than the $^7$Be. Those models are well parameterized by a single parameter, the central t…
Neutrinos are produced in several neutrino nuclear reactions of the proton-proton chain and carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle that take place at different radius of the Sun's core. Hence, measurements of solar neutrino fluxes provide a precise determination of the local temperature. The accumulation of non-annihilating light dark matter particles (with masses between 5 GeV and 16 GeV in the Sun produces a change in the local solar structure, namely, a decrease in the central temperature of a few percent. This variation depends on the properties of the dark matter particles, such as the mass of the …
Solar neutrino fluxes and sound speeds are calculated using a systematic reevaluation of nuclear fusion rates. The largest uncertainties are identified and their effects on the solar neutrino fluxes are estimated.
Recent observations of solar twin stars with planetary systems like the Sun, have uncovered that these present a peculiar surface chemical composition. This is believed to be related to the formation of earth-like planets. This suggests that twin stars have a radiative interior that is richer in heavy elements than their envelopes. Moreover, the current standard solar model does not fully agree with the helioseismology data and solar neutrino flux measurements. In this work, we find that this agreement can improve if the Sun has mass loss during the pre-main sequence, as was previously shown b…
We consider the possibility that the reactor antineutrino anomaly is due to a miscalculation of one or more of the $^{235}\text{U}$, $^{238}\text{U}$, $^{239}\text{Pu}$, and $^{241}\text{Pu}$ reactor antineutrino fluxes. From the fit of the data we obtain the precise determination $σ_{f,235} = ( 6.33 \pm 0.08 ) \times 10^{-43} \, \text{cm}^2 / \text{fission}$ of the $^{235}\text{U}$ cross section per fission, which is more precise than the calculated value and differs from it by $2.2σ$. The cross sections per fission of the other fluxes have large uncertainties and in practice their values are…
The energy sources of the Sun may actually involve a thermonuclear runaway energy source present in stellar energy producing regions. I consider the conjectures of the derived model for the solar neutrino fluxes in case of a solar core allowed to vary in relation to the surface activity cycle. The observed neutrino flux data suggest a solar core possibly varying in time. In the dynamic solar model the quiet and runaway energy sources together may produce quasi-constant flux in the SuperKamiokande because it is sensitive to neutral currents, axions and anti-neutrinos, too. I calculate the contr…
We generate new standard solar models using newly analyzed nuclear fusion cross sections and present results for helioseismic quantities and solar neutrino fluxes. We discuss the status of the solar abundance problem and investigate whether nonstandard solar models with accretion from the protoplanetary disk might alleviate the problem. We examine a broad range of possibilities, analyzing both metal-enriched and metal-depleted accretion models and exploring three scenarios for the timing of the accretion. Only partial solutions are found: one can bring either the depth of the convective zone o…
The Standard Solar Model (BP04) predicts a total 8B neutrino flux that is 17.2% larger than measured in the salt phase of the SNO detector (and if it were significant it will indicate oscillation to sterile neutrinos). Hence it is important to examine in details uncertainties (and values) of inputs to the SSM. Currently, the largest fractional uncertainty is due to the new evaluation of the surface composition of the sun. We examine the nuclear input on the formation of solar 8B [S17(0)] and demonstrate that it is still quite uncertain due to ill known slope of the measured astrophysical cross…
If the solution to the solar neutrino puzzle falls in the LMA region, KamLAND should be able to measure with good precision the corresponding oscillation parameters after a few years of data taking. Assuming a positive signal, we study their expected sensitivity to the solar parameters (theta_{12},Delta m^2_{21}) when considered in the framework of three-neutrino mixing after taking into account our ignorance on the mixing angle theta_{13}. We find a simple ``scaling'' dependence of the reconstructed theta_{12} range with the value of theta_{13} while the Delta m^2_{12} range is practically un…
We analyze the latest published solar neutrino data assuming an arbitrary neutrino oscillation/conversion mechanism suppresses the electron neutrino flux from the Sun independent of energy. For oscillations/transitions into active (sterile) neutrinos such mechanisms are ruled out at 99.96 (99.9997) % C.L. assuming the standard solar model by Bahcall and Pinnsoneault '95 correctly predicts all solar neutrino fluxes within their estimated uncertainties. Even if one allows for $^8{\rm B}$ and $^7{\rm Be}$ solar neutrino fluxes that are vastly different from the ones in contemporary standard solar…
Nonextensive and quantum uncertainty effects (related to the quasiparticles composing the stellar core) have strong influence on the nuclear rates and, of course, affect solar neutrino fluxes. Both effects do coexist and are due to the frequent collisions among the ions. The weakly nonextensive nature of the solar core is confirmed. The range of predictions for the neutrino fluxes is enlarged and the solar neutrino problem becomes less dramatic.
The 8B solar neutrino flux inferred from a global analysis of solar neutrino experiments is within 11% (1 sigma) of the predicted standard solar model value if only active neutrinos exist, but could be as large as 1.7 times the standard prediction if sterile neutrinos exist. We show that the total 8B neutrino flux (active plus sterile neutrinos) can be determined experimentally to about 10% (1 sigma) by combining charged current measurements made with the KamLAND reactor experiment and with the SNO CC solar neutrino experiment, provided the LMA neutrino oscillation solution is correct and the …
The results of a solar model independent analysis of the existing solar neutrino data under the assumption of MSW transitions in matter or vacuum oscillations (in the cases of $ν_{e}$--$ν_μ(ν_τ)$ and $ν_{e}$--$ν_{\mathrm{S}}$ mixing) are presented. The analysis was done in two cases. In the first case no assumptions on the value of the total fluxes of neutrinos from all reactions has been made. In the second case some boundaries for the values of the neutrino fluxes, that take into account the predictions of different standard solar models, are imposed. It is shown that rather large regions of…
Expected atmospheric ${\bar ν_e}$ fluxes will result in a significant number of resonantly produced low mass hadronic vector states, as the $ρ$, in large volume neutrino telescopes. The existence of sources of higher energy neutrinos will result in the production of higher mass states, as the $D_s^*$ and the $({\bar t}b)_{J=1}$. We calculate the rates of production of these states and discuss their signals. Independent of theoretical flux determinations, the detection of these states will be a tool for experimentally determining these fluxes.
We show that low-order g-modes with large enough amplitudes to affect significantly the solar neutrino fluxes would produce surface velocities that are $10^4$ times larger than the observed upper limits and hence are ruled out by existing data. We also demonstrate that any large-amplitude, short-period oscillations that grow on a Kelvin-Helmholtz time scale will require, to affect solar neutrino fluxes, a large amount of energy (for g-modes, $10^9$ times the energy in the observed $p-$ mode oscillations) and a tiny amount of dissipation (for g-modes, $10^{-8}$ the dissipation rate of the $p$-m…
We show that solar $γ$-ray observations can provide a complementary probe of Dark Matter in scenarios where the interactions with the Standard Model proceed via long-lived mediators. For illustration we consider a simplified model which provides solar $γ$-ray fluxes observable with the next generation $γ$-ray telescopes, while complying with the existing experimental constraints. Our results suggest that solar $γ$-ray fluxes can be orders of magnitude larger than the ones from the Galactic center, while being subject to low backgrounds.
Motivated by recent results from SuperKamiokande, we study both solar and atmospheric neutrino fluxes in the context of oscillations of the three known neutrinos. We aim at a global view which identifies the various possibilities, rather than attempting the most accurate determination of the parameters of each scenario. For solar neutrinos we emphasise the importance of performing a general analysis, independent of any particular solar model and we consider the possibility that any one of the techniques --- chlorine, gallium or water Cerenkov --- has a large unknown systematic error, so that i…
Besides the opportunity for discovering new neutrino physics, solar neutrino measurements provide a sensitive probe of the solar interior, and thus a rigorous test of solar model predictions. We present model independent determinations of the neutrino spectrum by using relevant flux components as free parameters subject only to the luminosity constraint. (1) Without the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) effect, the best fit for the combined data is poor. Furthermore, the data indicate a severe suppression of the $^7$Be flux relative to the $^8$B, contradicting both standard and nonstandard so…
The luminosity constraint is a very precise relationship linking the power released by the Sun as photons and the solar neutrino fluxes. Such a relation, which is a direct consequence of the physical processes controlling the production and the transport of energy in the solar interior, is of great importance for the studies of solar neutrinos and has a special role for the search of neutrinos from the CNO cycle, whose first detection with a 5$σ$ significance has been recently announced by the Borexino collaboration. Here we revise the luminosity constraint, discussing and validating its under…
We present the results of a solar model independent analysis of the existing solar neutrino data in the case of $ν_{e}\toν_{μ(τ)}$ MSW transitions. We considered two cases. In the first case no assumptions on the values of the total fluxes of neutrinos from all reactions have been made. In the second case we constrained the values of the neutrino fluxes within some wide limits that take into account the predictions of the existing Standard Solar Models. We show that in both cases the existing data allow to exclude rather large regions in the plane of the parameters $ Δm^2 $ and $ \sin^2 2θ$.
The precise knowledge of the atmospheric neutrino fluxes is a key ingredient in the interpretation of the results from any atmospheric neutrino experiment. In the standard atmospheric neutrino data analysis, these fluxes are theoretical inputs obtained from sophisticated numerical calculations. In this contribution we present an alternative approach to the determination of the atmospheric neutrino fluxes based on the direct extraction from the experimental data on neutrino event rates. The extraction is achieved by means of a combination of artificial neural networks as interpolants and Monte …
We present the results of a Bayesian analysis of solar neutrino data in terms of nu_e->nu_{mu,tau} oscillations, independent from the Standard Solar Model predictions for the solar neutrino fluxes. We show that such a model independent analysis allows to constraint the values of the neutrino mixing parameters in limited regions around the usual SMA, LMA, LOW and VO regions. Furthermore, there is a strong indication in favor of large neutrino mixing and large values of Delta m^2 (LMA region). We calculate also the allowed ranges of the neutrino fluxes and we show that they are in good agreement…
With latest experimental data the solar neutrino problem enters new phase when crucial aspects of the problem can be formulated in an essentially (solar) model independent way. Original neutrino fluxes can be considered as free parameters to be found from the solar neutrino experiments. Resonance flavour conversion gives the best fit of all experimental results. Already existing data allow one to constraint both the neutrino parameters and the original neutrino fluxes. The reconciliation of the solution of the solar neutrino problem with other neutrino mass hints (atmospheric neutrino problem,…
We provide a summary of the current knowledge, theoretical and experimental, of solar neutrino fluxes and of the masses and mixing angles that characterize solar neutrino oscillations. We also summarize the principal reasons for doing new solar neutrino experiments and what we think may be learned from the future measurements.
We show that standard solar models are in good agreement with the helioseismologically determined sound speed and density as a function of solar radius, the depth of the convective zone, and the surface helium abundance, as long as those models do not incorporate the most recent heavy element abundance determinations. However, sophisticated new analyses of the solar atmosphere infer lower abundances of the lighter metals (like C, N, O, Ne, and Ar) than the previously widely used surface abundances. We show that solar models that include the lower heavy element abundances disagree with the sola…
I summarize in four slides the 40 years of development of the standard solar model that is used to predict solar neutrino fluxes and then describe the current uncertainties in the predictions. I next dispel the misconception that the p-p neutrino flux is determined by the solar luminosity and present a related formula that gives, in terms of the p-p and 7Be neutrino fluxes, the ratio of the rates of the two primary ways of terminating the p-p fusion chain. I will also attempt to explain why it took so long, about three and a half decades, to reach a consensus view that new physics is being lea…
We show that observations of solar $γ$-rays offer a novel probe of dark matter in scenarios where interactions with the visible sector proceed via a long-lived mediator. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate that there exists a class of models which yield solar $γ$-ray fluxes observable with the next generation of $γ$-ray telescopes, while being allowed by a variety of current experimental constraints. The parameter space allowed by big bang nucleosynthesis and beam dump experiments naturally leads to mediator lifetimes sufficient to produce observable solar $γ$-ray signals. The model allows…
An improved standard solar model has been used to calculate the fluxes of standard solar neutrinos. It includes premain sequence evolution, element diffusion, partial ionization effects, and all the possible nuclear reactions between the main elements. It uses updated values for the initial solar element abundances, the solar age, the solar luminosity, the nuclear reaction rates and the radiative opacities. Neither nuclear equilibrium, nor complete ionization are assumed. The calculated solar neutrino fluxes are compared with published results from the four solar neutrino experiments. The calc…
