Collective plasma processes in the solar interior and the problem of the solar neutrinos deficit

Abstract

This review presents results of the recent calculations of collective plasma processes of radiation transport in the solar interior. The review introduces a remarkable number of previously neglected effects which are shown to reduce substantially the Rosseland opacity at the centre of the Sun (the decrease of opacity is approximately 10%, which is greater than the previously accepted possible errors in opacity). It is also shown that effects which were previously treated without taking into account the collective behaviour of plasma, change appreciably when the collective nature of the plasma is included. The analysis is based on modern concepts of plasma physics in which an essential role is played by photon scattering on ions and by the oscillations of ion electron shells in emission and bremsstrahlung absorption processes. The processes which contribute most to a decrease in opacity are: the broadening of the Raman resonance (due to both the Doppler effect and binary electron–ion collisions), frequency diffusion in radiation transfer processes, the processes of stimulated scattering and collective quantum corrections to the scattering. A list of collective plasma effects which influence photon transport in the dense central solar plasma is presented. The results of these new calculations could give a better agreement between the observed neutrino flux and theoretical predictions. New problems are discussed which can be of importance from the point of view of modern plasma physics for solar neutrinos production in different energy ranges.