Solar neutrinos: global analysis and implications for SNO

We present a global analysis of all the available solar neutrino data treating consistently the 8B and hep neutrino fluxes as free parameters. The analysis reveals at 99.7% C.L. eight currently-allowed discrete regions in two-neutrino oscillation space, five regions corresponding to active neutrinos and three corresponding to sterile neutrinos. Most of the allowed solutions are robust with respect to changes in the analysis procedure, but the traditional vacuum solution is fragile. The globally-permitted range of the 8B neutrino flux, 0.45 to 1.95 in units of the BP2000 flux, is comparable to the 3 sigma range allowed by the standard solar model. We discuss the implications for SNO of a low mass, Delta m^2 ~ 6 times 10^{-12} eV^2, vacuum oscillation solution, previously found by Raghavan, and by Krastev and Petcov, but absent in recent analyses that included Super-Kamiokande data. For the SNO experiment, we present refined predictions for the charged-current rate and the ratio of the neutral-current rate to charged-current rate. The predicted charged-current rate can be clearly distinguished from the no-oscillation rate only for the LMA solution. The predicted ratio of the neutral-current rate to charged-current rate is distinguishable from the no-oscillation ratio for the LMA, SMA, LOW, and VAC solutions for active neutrinos.