It is pointed out that the measurement of the deceleration parameter by Sandage (1972) implies an upper limit of a few tens of electron volts on the sum of the masses of all the possible light, stable particles that interact only weakly. In the discussion of the problem, it is assumed that the universe is expanding from an initially hot and condensed state as envisaged in the 'big-bang' theories.

An Upper Limit on the Neutrino Rest Mass

According to Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler and Hoyle (B2 FH), most of the elements were synthesized in the interior of stars by at least seven different types of nuclear processes Deuterium, lithium, beryllium and boron are very unstable, however, at the temperatures of stellar interiors, so that they must have been produced in regions of low density and temperature The nature of the x-process, which is responsible for the synthesis of these so-called “deficient” elements, has not yet been fully elucidated

Synthesis of the Elements in Stars

The solar neutrino experiment, designed to test our fundamental theories of the source of energy which sustains the stars and life, is one of the most sophisticated and important experiments of the past two decades. But it leads to some philosophical puzzles. For although the central core of the sun lies buried under 400,000 miles of dense, hot, opaque material, astrophysicists nevertheless universally speak of the experiment as providing “direct observation” of that central core. What can be meant by such talk? Is the puzzled philosopher simply ignorant of the ingenuity of modern science? Or are the astrophysicists using the term loosely or incorrectly or misleadingly, in a kind of sociological aberration that philosophers must gently tolerate while realizing that that usage has nothing to do with “real” observation? Or are the philosopher and astrophysicist perhaps interested in entirely different and unrelated problems, their respective usages being, from their respective points of view, equally legitimate? Or are the usages perhaps related, but in ways more complex than might be supposed from these or other usual alternatives?

The Concept of Observation in Science and Philosophy

A heavy water detector to resolve the solar neutrino problem

Effective charges of ions and the stopping power of dense media

After a brief historical introduction, dealing with the development of the neutrino concept and the search for the free neutrino, the main properties of the various kinds of particles and antiparticles of the neutrino group ( nu e, nu mu , nu e, nu mu ) are listed. The article deals further only with the electron neutrinos nu e which are produced in the solar interior as a by-product of the thermonuclear reactions of hydrogen. An outline of the p-p chain and CNO cycle reactions inside the Sun is given, with the emphasis on the role of various branches of these processes in producing sufficiently energetic neutrinos which could be detected by Davis's method.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/39/4/001/pdf

B Kuchowicz

Papers

Neutrinos from the Sun