Solar Neutrino Physics: The Interplay between Particle Physics and Astronomy

While presenting current knowledge as well as unsolved problems in our understanding of the sun, this book also shows the fascinating interplay between particle physics and astrophysics -- culminating in the discovery of neutrino oscillations. The text begins with an overview of how the model of the sun and thus of stars in general evolved over time, a development accompanied and maintained by some of the greatest discoveries in physics, ranging from the evolution of quantum mechanics, via nuclear physics right up to modern questions in particle physics. Special emphasis is placed on the current generation of solar neutrino observatories, and although neutrino oscillations form the central subject of the book, open questions and problems as well as possible solutions are also discussed.

Author Biography: Lothar Oberauer is professor for Astroparticle physics at the technical university of Munich (Germany) since 2002. He is collaborative member of the neutrino experiments Borexino, Double-Chooz and he is initiator of the future project Lena (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy). Lothar Oberauer was speaker of the collaborative research center "Neutrinos and Beyond" from 2006 until 2011. He was elected member of the research board of the Munich excellence cluster "Origin and structure of the Universe" from 2007 until 2012. Since March 2013 Lothar Oberauer is elected member of the German committee on Astroparticle physics. Aldo Ianni is a senior researcher and head of Research Division at the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy). He is a member of the Borexino experiment since 1996. He has served within the Steering Committee of Borexino for three years. At present he is in the Institutional Board of Borexino and chair of the Data Validation Committee. He has been active in the data analysis for solar neutrinos and geo-neutrinos since the start of data taking in 2007. At present he is also involved in the development of a depleted liquid argon based dark matter detector. He has been interested in neutrinoless double beta decay with neodymium and in supernova neutrinos.

1. Historical overview Understanding the Sun was always a strong motivation to develop natural science and it triggered many discoveries in other fields in physics until today, when we learned about neutrino oscillations from solar neutrinos. 2. Solar structure and evolution Basic equations and concepts of stellar evolution with focus to a star of the mass and age of the Sun. 3. Nuclear thermal fusion processes Basics of the fundamental force which makes the Sun shining: thermal nuclear fusion of protons to helium. pp- and CNO cycles. 4. The solar exterior Which processes dominate at the "surface" of the sun. Photosphere, solar activities, solar chemical compositions, high energy particles from the corona, opacities. 5. The solar interior I Helioseismology. Basic concepts, observations, and interpretation of the data. p-mode and g-mode helioseismology. Comparison with opacity measurements from the solar exterior. Problem of the solar metallicity. Future projects. 6. The solar interior II Neutrino emission from the Sun. Rates and spectral distributions. Solar experiments from homestake to Borexino. The solar neutrino puzzle and its solution. 7. Neutrino oscillations Basic concept of neutrino oscillations. Implications on astro- and particle physics. Context with other neutrino experiments, open questions in neutrino physics. Future projects.