RESONANT NUCLEAR-LEPTONIC QUASIPARTICLE FORMATION (RNLQF): A THEORY FOR THE GALLIUM ANOMALY

The gallium anomaly, a long-standing deficit in the electron neutrino capture rate observedin gallium-based experiments and recently confirmed at > 5σ significance, challenges the StandardModel. The leading explanation, a light sterile neutrino, is in significant tension with global cosmologicaland particle physics data. We propose a novel solution, the Resonant Nuclear-Leptonic QuasiparticleFormation (RNLQF) theory, which explains the anomaly not with new particles, but with new manybody physics within the Standard Model. We posit that the anomaly arises from a Fano-type quantuminterference in the neutrino capture process on 71Ga. The interference occurs between the directcapture to the 71Ge ground state (a continuum) and a resonant pathway proceeding via the known500 keV excited state of 71Ge (a discrete state). This mechanism, grounded in established nuclearphysics, naturally produces an asymmetric suppression in the neutrino capture cross-section. We derivethe Fano profile from first principles, perform a statistical fit to all available gallium data, addressand rule out conventional nuclear physics explanations, and discuss potential manifestations of theeffect in other systems. The theory makes a unique and falsifiable prediction: a single, localized,asymmetric resonance feature in the 71Ga cross-section, centered at a predictable energy of 732.9 keV,with maximum suppression predicted at 737.0 keV. This signature is distinct from the oscillatory patternof sterile neutrinos and is testable by future experiments with tunable neutrino sources. RNLQF thusoffers a compelling, self-consistent, and testable solution to the gallium anomaly.