A hypothetical solar-neutrino detector can register an electron neutrino only if its…

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The Nucleus Resolved, Ch Stellar burning and the origin of the elements

Problem

A hypothetical solar-neutrino detector can register an electron neutrino only if its energy exceeds

5.0\,\mathrm{MeV}

. The total neutrino flux at Earth is

6.5\times10^{10}\,\mathrm{cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}}

, made up of the pp continuum (endpoint

0.42\,\mathrm{MeV}

, about

91\%

of the flux), the two

^7\mathrm{Be}

lines (

0.862

and

0.384\,\mathrm{MeV}

, together about

7\%

) and the

^8\mathrm{B}

continuum (endpoint about

15\,\mathrm{MeV}

, about

0.01\%

). ((a)) Predict an upper bound on the flux this detector can register. ((b)) State which branch or branches, if any, contribute nothing at all, whatever the true shape of their spectra.

Related theory

Nuclear Physics

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