Astrophysics

J.N. Bahcall, H.A. Bethe, "A solution of the solar-neutrino problem," Physical Review Letters, 65:2233-35, 1990.

John Bahcall (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J.): "For approximately a quarter of a century, there has been a conflict between the predictions of standard astronomical and physical theories and what has been observed in experiments that detect neutrinos, produced by nuclear fusion reactions in the solar interior. Our paper has attracted attention for two reasons. First, we presented an argument that showed that errors in astronomical understanding are unlikely to account for the results of two solar neutrino experiments. Second, we showed that the simplest of a large class of models could account for all the available experimental information and makes striking predictions for experiments in progress with gallium detectors and other future detectors. Solar neutrino experiments could represent the first observation of physics beyond the widely successful standard theory of electro-weak interactions."