New Capabilities of an Iodine Detector for Solar Neutrinos

Abstract

This study has indicated that the resonance structure of the charge-exchange strength function S(E) strongly affects the cross section for solar neutrino capture σ(E) by the 127I nucleus. The effect of each resonance on the energy dependence of σ(E) for an iodine detector has been analyzed. It has been shown that all high-lying charge-exchange resonances should be taken into account in the calculations of the cross section σ(E), and the highest energy resonances in the strength function S(E) determine the formation of the stable 126Xe isotope at the capture of a high-energy solar neutrino by the 127I nucleus and the subsequent neutron emission from the formed 127Xe isotope. The calculations with the inclusion of the neutron separation energy Sn in the 127Xe nucleus show that the inclusion of the neutron separation energy Sn reduces the neutrino capture rate, particularly for boron and hep neutrinos, and the 126Xe/127Xe isotope ratio is an indicator of these hard neutrinos. It has been found that the formation of the 126Xe isotope is accompanied by the emission of gamma-ray photons with a certain energy. It has been shown that the analysis of the 126Xe/127Xe isotope ratio in the formed xenon gas mixture and the detection of gamma emission in 126Xe open new capabilities of the iodine detector for the detection of solar neutrinos and make it possible to separate the important boron component of the solar spectrum.