Constraining solar electron number density via neutrino flavor data at Borexino
Understanding the physics of the deep solar interior, and the more exotic environs of core-collapse supernovae (CCSN) and binary neutron-star (NS) mergers, is of keen interest in many avenues of research. To date, this physics is based largely on simulations via forward integration. While these simulations provide valuable constraints, it could be insightful to adopt the ``inverse approach'' as a point of comparison. Within this paradigm, parameters of the solar interior are not output based on an assumed model, but rather are inferred based on real data. We take the specific case of solar electron number density, which historically is taken as output from the standard solar model. We show how one may arrive at an independent constraint on that density profile based on available neutrino flavor data from the Earth-based Borexino experiment. The inference technique's ability to offer a unique lens on physics can be extended to other datasets, and to analogous questions for CCSN and NS mergers, albeit with simulated data.
Authors
- M. Margarette Sanchez
- Caroline Laber-Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9237-9470)
- Eve Armstrong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6167-9799)
- A. B. Balantekin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2999-0111)
- Amol V. Patwardhan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2281-799X)
- Sarah Ranginwala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8603-7030)
- Elizabeth K. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0844-173X)
- Hansen Torres (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8354-338X)
- L. L. Newkirk
Institutions
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Harvey Mudd College (US)
- American Museum of Natural History (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of Minnesota System (US)
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US)
- New York Institute of Technology (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
- Published
- 2024-08-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.110.043011
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.99
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- University of Minnesota
- New York Institute of Technology
- Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory