# Bounds on ℎ⁢𝑒⁢𝑝 neutrinos

## I Introduction

In the recent observations of Superkamiokande  some excess of high energy solar-neutrino events was detected. This excess is difficult to interpret as distortion of Boron neutrino spectrum due to neutrino oscillations . It might indicate  that the $`hep`$ neutrino flux, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)`$, is significantly larger (by a factor $`30`$) than the SSM prediction $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu ^{SSM}(hep)`$.

Apart from $`S_{13}`$, the zero-energy astrophysical $`S`$-factor of the $`p+^3He^4He+e^++\nu `$ cross-section, the prediction of the $`hep`$ neutrino flux in the SSM is rather robust. Bahcall and Krastev  estimate this flux as:

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)=2.1(1+0.03)\left(\frac{S_{13}}{S_{13,SSM}}\right)10^3cm^2s^1$$
(1)   
We remark that $`S_{13}`$ is not reliably calculated. In the SSM the value $`S_{13}^{SSM}=2.310^{20}`$ keV b is used following the most recent calculations by Schiavilla et al , though due to complexity of the calculations (see Carlson et al , Schiavilla et al. ) the uncertainties are rather large: $`0.5<S_{13}/S_{13}^{SSM}<1.5`$, according to Ref.. In a short review of the calculations , the authors conclude that from the first-principle physics it is difficult to exclude that the cross-section is an order of magnitude larger.

The 3% error in Eq. (1) accounts for the estimated uncertainties in the solar age, chemical composition, luminosity, radiative opacity, diffusion rate and in all nuclear quantites, except $`S_{13}`$. This small error follows from the fact that $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)`$ depends rather weakly on all astrophysical variables such as temperature $`T`$, density $`\rho `$ and the chemical composition. Besides, all these quantities, except <sup>3</sup>He abundance, are smooth functions of the radial distance $`r`$ in the solar region where most of $`hep`$-neutrinos are produced, $`0.1<r/R_{}<0.2`$. It is hard to conceive that SSM’s uncertainties in $`T`$, $`\rho `$ and $`X`$ can result in a considerable change of $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)`$.

The only exception is <sup>3</sup>He abundance, which radial behaviour is not that smooth. In fact it increases by an order of magnitude when moving from $`r=0.1R_{}`$ to $`r=0.2R_{}`$, so that $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)`$ is sensitive to the <sup>3</sup>He distribution, see Figs.4.2 and 6.1 of . This abundance is not limited by helioseismic data and in non-standard models it can be, in principle, high in the $`hep`$-neutrinos production zone.

We have thus analyzed the astrophysical uncertainties in the flux of $`hep`$ neutrinos in an approach beyond the SSM. In Section II we derive an upper limit for $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)/S_{13}`$ directly from the solar-luminosity constraint. In Section III we impose the more restrictive assumption of local <sup>3</sup>He equilibrium in the $`hep`$-neutrino production zone and use the helioseismic constraints.

## II The solar-luminosity constraint

The production rate $`Q_\nu (hep)`$ for the $`hep`$ neutrinos and the solar-luminosity constraint can be written down as follows

$$Q_\nu (hep)=𝑑r4\pi r^2n_1(r)n_2(r)\lambda _{13}(T(r)),$$
(2)   
$$\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Delta }_1𝑑r4\pi r^2n_1(r)^2\lambda _{11}(T(r))+\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Delta }_2𝑑r4\pi r^2n_3(r)^2\lambda _{33}(T(r))L_{}$$
(3)   
where $`\lambda _{ij}`$ are energy-averaged reaction rates between nucleus $`i`$ and $`j`$,

$$\lambda _{ij}(T)=𝑑E𝑑E^{}f(E,T)f(E^{},T)(\sigma v)_{ij},$$
(4)   
$`f(E,T)`$ is the normalized Maxwell distribution function, $`n_i`$ is the number density of nuclei with atomic mass number $`i`$, $`(\sigma v)_{ij}`$ is the reaction rate between nuclei $`i`$ and $`j`$, and the two $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ correspond respectively to the two values of the heat release: when a <sup>3</sup>He nucleus is produced ($`3p+e^{}^3He+\nu `$), and when two <sup>3</sup>He are merged ($`{}_{}{}^{3}He+^3He^4He+2p`$),

$`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$ $`=`$ $`3m_p+m_em_{{}_{}{}^{3}He}<E_\nu >_{pp}=6.7\text{MeV}`$ (6)   
$`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ $`=`$ $`2m_{{}_{}{}^{3}He}m_{{}_{}{}^{4}He}2m_p=12.9\text{MeV}`$ (7)   
The temperature dependence of the reaction rates (4) can be parametrized as:

$$\lambda _{ij}(T)=\lambda _{ij}\left(\frac{T}{T_o}\right)^{\alpha _{ij}}$$
(8)   
where generally speaking $`T_0`$ is an arbitrary temperature scale. We shall fix $`T_0`$ at the position of maximum of nuclear-energy production in the SSM $`(T_0=1.33610^7K)`$, which guarantees that that expansion (8) is related to a narrow temperature range. The values of $`\lambda _{ij}`$ and $`\alpha _{i,j}`$ (this latter rounded to the nearest integer) are given in Table I. They are calculated using the values of astrophysical $`S`$-factors given in Ref. and for $`T_0=1.33610^7`$K. Note that uncertainties in $`\lambda _{ij}`$ depend only on cross-sections; in particular $`\lambda _{ij}S_{ij}`$, where $`S_{ij}`$ are astrophysical factors.

From Eq.(3), by using the inequality $`1/2(f_1^2+f_2^2)f_1f_2`$ and the parametrization (8) one obtains

$$𝑑r4\pi r^2n_1(r)n_3(r)\lambda _{13}(T(r))\left(\frac{T(r)}{T_0}\right)^\alpha \frac{\lambda _{13}}{\sqrt{\lambda _{11}\lambda _{33}}\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }_1\mathrm{\Delta }_2}}L_{},$$
(9)   
where $`\alpha =(\alpha _{11}+\alpha _{33})/2\alpha _{13}2`$

One can see that the integrand in the lhs of Eq.(9) is different from that of Eq.(2) only by a factor $`\left(T(r)/T_0\right)^2`$. Inequality (9) further strengthens if this factor is taken as $`\left(T_{min}/T_0\right)^2`$, where $`T_{min}`$ is the minimum temperature in the $`hep`$-production zone. In the SSM at the temperature $`T_{min}=710^6K`$ (corresponding to $`r/R_{}=0.3`$) the probability for a proton to undergo a nuclear reaction during the solar age is as small as $`0.1\%`$. Then from Eq.(9) one obtains

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)<\frac{K_{}}{\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }_1\mathrm{\Delta }_3}}\frac{\lambda _{13}}{\sqrt{\lambda _{11}\lambda _{33}}}\left(\frac{T_0}{T_{min}}\right)^2,$$
(10)   
where $`K_{}=L_{}/(4\pi D^2)`$ and $`D`$ is the distance between Sun and Earth.

Note that the weak inequality (9) has turned into a stronger inequality (10) due to substitution $`T(r)T_{min}`$ in lhs of Eq.(9), while actually one should use $`T(r)<T>`$.

Using the values from Table 1, one obtains numerically

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)<6.5\left(\frac{S_{13}}{S_{13}^{SSM}}\right)10^3\text{ }cm^2s^1,$$
(11)   
a factor three larger than in the SSM calculations, Eq.(1).

## III Local <sup>3</sup>He equilibrium and Helioseismology

A more restrictive upper bound can be obtained from helioseismic constraints, with an additional assumption that $`hep`$ neutrinos are produced in a region where the <sup>3</sup>He concentration is at local equilibrium. This assumption, which is valid for a wide class of stellar models, implies:

$$\frac{1}{2}n_1^2\lambda _{11}T(r)=n_3^2\lambda _{33}T(r).$$
(12)   
Putting $`n_3(r)`$ from this equation into (2) and using $`n_1(r)=X(r)\rho (r)/m_p`$ one obtains

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)=\frac{\lambda _{13}}{4\pi D^2}\sqrt{\frac{\lambda _{11}}{2\lambda _{33}}}\frac{1}{m_p^2}𝑑r4\pi r^2\rho (r)^2\left[X(r)T(r)/T_0\right]^2.$$
(13)   
In the energy production zone, the equation of state (EOS) for the solar interior can be approximated, with an accuracy better than 1% , by the EOS of a fully ionized classical perfect gas:

$$P(r)=\rho (r)T(r)(k_B/m_p)[2X(r)+\frac{3}{4}Y(r)+\frac{1}{2}Z(r)],$$
(14)   
where $`P`$ denotes the pressure and $`k_B`$ is the Boltzmann constant. Using Eqs. (13) and (14) one obtains

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)\frac{1}{4\pi D^2}\frac{1}{4(kT_0)^2}\lambda _{13}\sqrt{\frac{\lambda _{11}}{2\lambda _{33}}}𝑑r4\pi r^2P^2(r).$$
(15)   
It is known  that inverting helioseismic data one can derive the (isothermal) sound speed squared, $`u=P/\rho `$ and $`\rho `$ with an accuracy of 1% or better for all $`r/R_{}`$ of interest. This implies that also pressure $`P`$ is known with a comparable accuracy. Since SSMs are in agreement with helioseismology, one can use the SSM-calculated pressure $`P(r)`$ to evaluate the integral in Eq.(15). It gives

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)<3.5\left(\frac{S_{13}}{S_{13}^{SSM}}\right)10^3\text{ }cm^2s^1.$$
(16)   
This upper bound is (less then) two times the SSM prediction.

In fact the agreement is even better. Neglecting $`Z`$ in Eq.(14) and using $`Y1X`$ one obtains from Eq.(14)

$$X(r)T(r)=\frac{4m_pP(r)}{5k_B\rho (r)}\frac{3}{5}T(r)$$
(17)   
The first term on rhs of Eq.(17) is determined by helioseismic measurements and thus can be taken as in the SSM. Temperature profile $`T(r)`$ cannot differ from that of the SSM more than by 2 – 3%. Then $`[X(r)T(r)]^2`$, the only unknown function in the integral (13), can differ from the SSM value by a few percent only and so does $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)`$.

## IV Conclusions

We have derived an upper limit on $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)/S_{13}`$ directly from the solar-luminosity constraint. It is only three times the SSM prediction. If one additionally assumes that $`hep`$ neutrino production occurs in the region where the <sup>3</sup>He concentration is at local equilibrium, helioseismology provides a formal upper bound (less than) two times the SSM prediction. More realistically, in this case $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (hep)/S_{13}`$ can be only a few percent higher than in the SSM. Our limits can be violated only in very exotic models of non-stationary sun with non-stationary transport of <sup>3</sup>He in the inner core from outside. This transport should not be accompanied by any noticeable transport of other elements, such as <sup>1</sup>H or <sup>4</sup>He, otherwise the seismically observed sound speed in the inner core will be affected. We doubt that such models can be constructed.

In principle, the $`hep`$-neutrinos can be resolved in the high precision experiments. We argue that the anomalous $`hep`$-neutrino flux of order of that observed by Superkamiokande cannot be explained by astrophysics, but rather by a large production cross-section.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to J.N.Bahcall, W.Dziembowski, E. Lisi, M.Lissia, M. Spiro and D. Vignaud for interesting discussions. G.F. thanks the DAPNIA of CEA-Saclay for hospitality in a stimulating environment.