Measurement of the total active 8B solar neutrino flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory with enhanced neutral current sensitivity

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory has precisely determined the total active (nu(x)) 8B solar neutrino flux without assumptions about the energy dependence of the nu(e) survival probability. The measurements were made with dissolved NaCl in heavy water to enhance the sensitivity and signature for neutral-current interactions. The flux is found to be 5.21 +/- 0.27(stat)+/-0.38(syst) x 10(6) cm(-2) s(-1), in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of these and other solar and reactor neutrino results yields Deltam(2)=7.1(+1.2)(-0.6) x 10(-5) eV(2) and theta=32.5(+2.4)(-2.3) degrees. Maximal mixing is rejected at the equivalent of 5.4 standard deviations.     

Variables for probing neutrino oscillation at super-Kamiokande and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

We propose several new variables, insensitive to the absolute flux of the incident solar or supernova neutrino beam, which probe the shape of the observed spectrum at super-Kamiokande and Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiments and can sensitively signal neutrino oscillations. One class of such variables involve moments of the distributions recorded at the two facilities while another variable, specific to SNO, utilises the integrated charged and neutral current signals. The utility of these variables in the context of supernova neutrinos both from the collapse epoch and the post-bounce era is also discussed.     

7Be(p, γ)8B and the high-energy solar neutrino flux

The importance of the⁷Be(p, γ)⁸B reaction in predicting the high-energy solar neutrino flux is discussed. I present a microscopic eight-body model and a potential model for the calculation of the⁷Be(p, γ)⁸B cross section.     

Measurement of the rate of nu(e) + d --> p + p + e(-) interactions produced by (8)B solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Solar neutrinos from (8)B decay have been detected at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory via the charged current (CC) reaction on deuterium and the elastic scattering (ES) of electrons. The flux of nu(e)'s is measured by the CC reaction rate to be straight phi(CC)(nu(e)) = 1.75 +/- 0.07(stat)(+0.12)(-0.11)(syst) +/- 0.05(theor) x 10(6) cm(-2) s(-1). Comparison of straight phi(CC)(nu(e)) to the Super-Kamiokande Collaboration's precision value of the flux inferred from the ES reaction yields a 3.3 sigma difference, assuming the systematic uncertainties are normally distributed, providing evidence of an active non- nu(e) component in the solar flux. The total flux of active 8B neutrinos is determined to be 5.44+/-0.99 x 10(6) cm(-2) s(-1).     

Large-volume detector at the Baksan Neutrino Observatory for studies of natural neutrino fluxes for purposes of geo- and astrophysics

At the Baksan Neutrino Observatory (Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) deployed in the Caucasus mountains, it is proposed to create, at a depth corresponding to 4760 mwe, a large-volume neutrino detector on the basis of a liquid scintillator with a target mass of 10 kt. The detector in question is intended for recording natural fluxes of neutrinos whose energy may be as low as 100MeV. Neutrino fluxes from various sources are considered in the present study, and the expected effect in the proposed detector is estimated. The detector hat is being developed at the Baksan Neutrino Observatorywill become part of the world network of neutrino detectors for studying natural neutrino fluxes.     

Direct measurement of the 7Be solar neutrino flux with 192 days of borexino data

We report the direct measurement of the 7Be solar neutrino signal rate performed with the Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The interaction rate of the 0.862 MeV 7Be neutrinos is 49+/-3stat+/-4syst counts/(day.100 ton). The hypothesis of no oscillation for 7Be solar neutrinos is inconsistent with our measurement at the 4sigma C.L. Our result is the first direct measurement of the survival probability for solar nu(e) in the transition region between matter-enhanced and vacuum-driven oscillations. The measurement improves the experimental determination of the flux of 7Be, pp, and CNO solar nu(e), and the limit on the effective neutrino magnetic moment using solar neutrinos.     

Determining the primary cosmic ray energy from the total flux of Cherenkov light measured at the Yakutsk EAS array

We present a method for determining the energy of the primary particle that generates an extensive air shower (EAS) of comic rays based on measuring the total flux of Cherenkov light from the shower. Applying this method to Cherenkov light measurements at the Yakutsk EAS array has allowed us to construct the cosmic ray energy spectrum in the range 10¹⁵ ? 3 × 10¹⁹ eV.     

A technique for active measurement of atmospheric transmittance using an imaging system: implementation at 10.6 μm wavelength

An active method is presented for measuring atmospheric transmittance with an imaging system. In comparison to other measurement methods, this method has the advantage of immunity to background noise, independence of atmospheric conditions such as solar radiation, and an improved capability to evaluate effects of turbulence on the measurements. Other significant advantages are integration over all particulate size distribution effects including very small and very large particulates whose concentration is hard to measure, and the fact that this method is a path-integrated measurement. Attenuation deriving from molecular absorption and from small and large particulate scatter and absorption and their weather dependences are separated out. Preliminary results indicate high correlation with direct transmittance calculations via particle size distribution measurement, and that even at 10.6 μm wavelength atmospheric transmission depends noticeably on aerosol size distribution and concentration.     

Feasibility of an experiment to determine the branching ratio for the emission of a heavy neutrino after muon capture in3He

The triton energy of the muon capture reaction ³He t+v, where ³ He is the ground state of muonic³He, has been measured in order to investigate a possible heavy v admixture into the flavour with high sensitivity. ³ He has been formed via the pd fusion reaction by stopping ^– in an ionization chamber (IC) filled with an H/D gas mixture of 3% D concentration at a pressure of 161 bar. In a first short experiment 650 triton events were observed yielding an upper limit for the -heavy v mixing strength of 2.3×10^–3 atE _0v=60 MeV.     

Further measurement of the 7Be(p,γ)8B cross section at low energies with the coulomb dissociation of 8B

We have measured the dissociation of ⁸B in the Coulomb field of ²⁰⁸Pb at E_in=51.9 MeV/nucleon and extracted the cross section of the ⁷Be(p,γ)⁸B reaction at 0.4 ≤ E_rel≤ 3 MeV, which is of importance for the ⁸B solar-neutrino production rate. The extracted astrophysical S₁₇ factors are consistent with our earlier Coulomb dissociation measurement, and agree with the values deduced from the direct capture measurements by Filippone et al., Vaughn et al. and Hammache et al. The S factor at zero energy was extracted to be 18.9±1.8 eV-b with the help of theoretical energy-dependence. Received: 15 August 1998     

Activation measurement of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section at low energy

The nuclear physics input from the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section is a major uncertainty in the fluxes of 7Be and 8B neutrinos from the Sun predicted by solar models and in the 7Li abundance obtained in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations. The present work reports on a new precision experiment using the activation technique at energies directly relevant to big-bang nucleosynthesis. Previously such low energies had been reached experimentally only by the prompt-gamma technique and with inferior precision. Using a windowless gas target, high beam intensity, and low background gamma-counting facilities, the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section has been determined at 127, 148, and 169 keV center-of-mass energy with a total uncertainty of 4%. The sources of systematic uncertainty are discussed in detail. The present data can be used in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations and to constrain the extrapolation of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be astrophysical S factor to solar energies.     

Mass measurements of 19Na and 23Al using the (3He, 8Li) reaction

The mass excesses of ¹⁹Na and ²³Al have been measured with the (³He, ⁸Li) reaction. The values obtained are 12928 ± 12 keV and 6767 ± 25 keV, respectively. The first excited state of ¹⁹Na, observed to lie at 120 ± 10 keV, completes a mass quartet which agrees with a quadratic isobaric multiplet mass equation.