🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4737@dove.nist.gov>, clark@bork.nist.gov (Charles Clark) writes...
> 
>Can someone post a brief summary of what has happened to the
>17 keV neutrino ?

I was not at ICHEP-92 but I have been keeping up with the literature.
A Japanese group published a strong negative result some months ago which 
has many people starting to lean towards the "No 17-KeV neutino" position.
People here at LBL, some of whom still have experiments in progress, seem to 
still keep their minds open.

Perhaps Dave can correct me if there is new information from the conference,
but the major issue seems to me to be still unresolved.  There are (roughly)
two classes of experiments - solid state detectors and spectrometers.  
The spectrometer experiments have almost uniformly found no signal at 
sensitivities more than sufficient to rule out any claim to a 17 KeV neutrino
with anything near 1% coupling.  But the solid state detectors keep 
seeing it.  There are exceptions.  It has been seen in several processes, i.e.,
not just in beta decay but also in IBEC (Inner bremstrahlung during Electron
Capture - a photon is captured which is given off during a K-capture process).
And there has been no resolution of the discrepancy between those experiments
which see it and those which don't - i.e., no explanation of why the
spectrometers miss it if it is really there or why the solid state detetors
get such convincing phony signals is it is not.  Until this issue is settled,
it seems to me that the entire question remains open.

-Scott 
--------------------
Scott I. Chase                  "The question seems to be of such a character
SICHASE@CSA2.LBL.GOV            that if I should come to life after my death
                                and some mathematician were to tell me that it
                                had been definitely settled, I think I would
                                immediately drop dead again."      - Vandiver