On the correlation of solar surface magnetic flux with solar neutrino capture rate

Abstract

We correlate the Homestake solar neutrino capture rate with magnetograph measured photospheric magnetic flux, using all available data from 1970-1991. We find that the anticorrelation of the capture rate with the flux is stronger than the (previously studied) anticorrelation with sunspot number, and that the anticorrelation and its significance improve markedly when the flux is taken from near the center of the solar disk. Furthermore, we find that there is no significant correlation when the near-disk-center flux is excluded. This supports an hypothesis that there is an interaction between the outgoing solar neutrinos and the magnetic fields they encounter along their flight paths. We find the suggestion of a similar pattern with the Kamiokande neutrino data, although noise level and time span do not permit conclusive results.