Solar neutrino detection

TL;DR

This paper reviews the 40-year history of solar neutrino detection, highlighting the evolution from initial measurements to understanding neutrino oscillations and recent low-energy spectrum observations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the development of solar neutrino detection techniques and the scientific insights gained over four decades.

Findings

Confirmation of neutrino oscillations.

Resolution of the Solar Neutrino Problem.

Advancements in low-energy neutrino detection.

Abstract

More than 40 years ago, neutrinos where conceived as a way to test the validity of the solar models which tell us that stars are powered by nuclear fusion reactions. The first measurement of the neutrino flux, in 1968 in the Homestake mine in South Dakota, detected only one third of the expected value, originating what has been known as the Solar Neutrino Problem. Different experiments were built in order to understand the origin of this discrepancy. Now we know that neutrinos undergo oscillation phenomenon changing their nature traveling from the core of the Sun to our detectors. In the work the 40 year long saga of the neutrino detection is presented; from the first proposals to test the solar models to last real time measurements of the low energy part of the neutrino spectrum.