Search for possible solar neutrino radiative decays during total solar eclipses

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of total solar eclipses to detect photons from hypothetical radiative decays of solar neutrinos, reviewing physics foundations, existing limits, and reporting on a specific observational attempt during the 2006 eclipse.

Contribution

It provides a review of the physics and limits related to solar neutrino radiative decays and reports new observational data from the 2006 total solar eclipse.

Findings

Reviewed physics basis for neutrino decay searches

Summarized existing lifetime limits from previous experiments

Reported observational data from the 2006 eclipse

Abstract

Total solar eclipses (TSEs) offer a good opportunity to look for photons produced in possible radiative decays of solar neutrinos. In this paper we briefly review the physics bases of such searches as well as the existing limits on the neutrino proper lifetimes obtained by such experiments. We the report on the observations performed in occasion of the 29 March 2006 TSE, from Waw an Namos, Libya.