Stellar Structure and Stellar Evolution — Another View

Abstract

In 1962 plans were begun for an experiment to detect neutrinos from the sun¹. The target element was Cl³⁷. The 1966 predicted counting rate was about 35 SNU’s for a sun dominated either by the proton (pp) or carbon (CNO) cycle for nuclear energy generation^2,3. (1 SNU — Solar Neutrino Unit — is 10^-36 neutrino captures per target nucleus per second. ) In 1967, the counting rate obtained was the background counting rate of 3 SNU’s^4,5! This result was a shock to the astrophysics community as a counting rate even greater than 35 SNU’s was expected. (Such predictions are usually conservative to allow for some uncertainties.) Since 1967, every aspect of the experiment was checked and double checked: first, the theoretical calculations, then the nuclear cross sections, and every aspect of the solar neutrino experiment (SNE) itself that could have resulted in a low detection rate. No loopholes have been found in the conventional approach to the problem^6,7,8.