Solar models and neutrino deficit

Abstract

The existing measurements of the solar neutrino flux are compared with the predictions of all models capable of reproducing the other solar observables. These predictions are supplemented by the hypothesis of neutrino oscillations with mass differences large enough to render energy-independent the depletion of the solar nu(e) flux. It is concluded that the data are consistent with this hypothesis and that an energy-dependence of the solar neutrino deficit must be regarded as an attractive possibility but not as a compelling reality.