Absence of Correlation between the Solar Neutrino Flux and the Sunspot Number

Abstract

There exists a considerable amount of research claiming a puzzling anti-correlation between the neutrino detection rate at the Homestake experiment and indicators of solar activity such as the sunspot number, giving rise to explanations involving the hypothesis of a neutrino magnetic moment. It is argued here that the claimed significant anti-correlation is due to a statistical fallacy. A proper test based on certain optimality criteria fails to detect a significant time variation of the neutrino flux in concert with the sunspot number, providing evidence that the observations are consistent with no correlation between the two series.