Measurement of the rate of ν e+d → p+p+e − interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Abstract

Solar neutrinos from the decay of 8B have been detected at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) via the charged current (CC) reaction on deuterium and by the elastic scattering (ES) of electrons. The CC reaction is sensitive exclusively to ν e, while the ES reaction also has a small sensitivity to ν μ and ν τ. The flux of ν e from 8B decay measured by the CC reaction rate is φ CC(ν e )=[1.75±0.07(stat.) −0.11 +0.12 (syst.)×0.05(theor.)]×106cm−2s−1. Assuming no flavor transformation, the flux inferred from the ES reaction rate is φ ES(ν x )=[2.39±0.34(stat.) −0.14 +0.16 (syst.)]×106cm−2s−1. Comparison of φ CC(ν e) to the Super-Kamiokande collaboration’s precision value of φ ES(ν x) yields a 3.3σ difference, assuming the systematic uncertainties are normally distributed, providing evidence that there is a nonelectron flavor active neutrino component in the solar flux. The total flux of active 8B neutrinos is thus determined to be (5.44±0.99)×106 cm−2 s−1, in close agreement with the predictions of solar models.