What fraction of boron-8 solar neutrinos arrive at the Earth as a ν2 mass eigenstate?

Hiroshi Nunokawa, Stephen Parke, and Renata Zukanovich Funchal
Phys. Rev. D 74, 013006 – Published 24 July 2006

Abstract

We calculate the fraction of B8 solar neutrinos that arrive at the Earth as a ν2 mass eigenstate as a function of the neutrino energy. Weighting this fraction with the B8 neutrino energy spectrum and the energy dependence of the cross section for the charged current interaction on deuteron with a threshold on the kinetic energy of the recoil electrons of 5.5 MeV, we find the integrated weighted fraction of ν2’s to be (91±2)% at the 95% CL. This energy weighting procedure corresponds to the charged current response of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). We have used SNO’s current best fit values for the solar mass squared difference and the mixing angle, obtained by combining the data from all solar neutrino experiments and the reactor data from KamLAND. The uncertainty on the ν2 fraction comes primarily from the uncertainty on the solar δm2 rather than from the uncertainty on the solar mixing angle or the standard solar model. Similar results for the Super-Kamiokande experiment are also given. We extend this analysis to three neutrinos and discuss how to extract the modulus of the Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata mixing matrix element Ue2 as well as place a lower bound on the electron number density in the production region for B8 solar neutrinos.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
1 More
  • Received 30 January 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.74.013006

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Hiroshi Nunokawa1,*, Stephen Parke2,†, and Renata Zukanovich Funchal3,‡

  • 1Departamento de Física, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, C.P. 38071, 22452-970, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 2Theoretical Physics Department, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA
  • 3Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 66.318, 05315-970 São Paulo, Brazil

  • *Electronic address: nunokawa@fis.puc-rio.br
  • Electronic address: parke@fnal.gov
  • Electronic address: zukanov@if.usp.br

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 74, Iss. 1 — 1 July 2006

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review D

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×