Open AccessEffect of Coulomb collisions on time variations of the solar neutrino flux
Author(s) -
Malyshkin L.,
Kulsrud R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03522.x
Subject(s) - physics , flux (metallurgy) , coulomb , solar neutrino , astrophysics , neutrino , nuclear physics , astronomy , neutrino oscillation , electron , materials science , metallurgy
We consider the processes that might suppress the time variations in the solar neutrino flux produced by the radial motion of the Earth through the neutrino interference pattern. We calculate these time variations and the extent to which they are suppressed by Coulomb collisions of the neutrino‐emitting nuclei. This is done for both the 0.862‐MeV 7 Be neutrino line and the continuous neutrino spectrum, assuming a Gaussian energy response function of the neutrino detector. We find that the collisional decoherence averages out the time variations for neutrino massesA simple and clear physical picture of the time‐dependent solar neutrino problem is presented and qualitative coherence criteria are discussed.