Unobserving the Moon: the spurious possibility of orbital decoupling due to solar neutrino Arago spot

TL;DR

This paper explores the theoretical possibility of observing a solar neutrino Arago spot during a lunar eclipse to measure the Moon's position precisely, and assesses its implications on lunar orbit stability.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of using neutrino diffraction patterns, specifically the Arago spot, for high-precision lunar positioning and analyzes its impact on lunar orbital dynamics.

Findings

The neutrino Arago spot can theoretically be used to locate the Moon accurately.

Observation of the neutrino Arago spot does not threaten lunar orbital stability.

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle limits the precision of lunar position measurements.

Abstract

The Arago spot is an intensity maximum at the center of a shadow created by constructive interference of diffracted waves around a spherical object. While the study of diffraction patterns usually concerns visible light, de Broglie's wave nature of matter makes diffraction theory applicable for particles, such as neutrinos, as well. During a solar eclipse, some of the neutrinos emitted by the Sun are diffracted by the Moon, resulting in a diffraction pattern that can be observed on Earth. In this paper we consider the theoretically emerging solar neutrino Arago spot as a means to measure the location of the Moon with high accuracy and consider its implication on the orbit of the Moon given Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Our results indicate that the Moon is not at immediate risk of orbital decoupling due to the observation of a solar neutrino Arago spot.