Apparent observation of abnormally large coherent scattering cross sections using keV and MeV range antineutrinos, and solar neutrinos

It has been suggested by the author that very tightly bound scatterers in a nearly perfect crystal can produce large-angle coherent scattering of neutrinos over target dimensions much larger than the neutrino wavelength. This should result in neutrino-scattering cross sections enhanced by factors typically exceeding ${10}^{20}$, giving measurable forces due to the coherent momentum transfer to crystals of cm dimensions, and the ability to screen or attenuate a neutrino beam with relatively small amounts of crystalline material. This paper presents results of several preliminary experiments designed to investigate this hypothesis, using a sapphire crystal fitted to a calibrated torsion balance and different sources of antineutrinos: from tritium, from a reactor, and the predicted solar-neutrino flux. In each case forces of the expected magnitude were observed, apparently correlated with the direction and magnitude of the antineutrino or neutrino flux, these signals being absent in control experiments. In the case of the reactor experiment, the screening effect of a larger sapphire crystal was also demonstrated.