A mean spherical approximation of the solubility of iron in the internal solar plasma

The model sensitivity of the prediction of the insolubility of iron in internal solar plasma is tested by comparing the mean spherical approximation of a classical plasma of charged hard spheres with the point-charge model of the Debye-Hückel approximation. It is found that the solubility of iron is very insensitive to considerable changes in the model assumptions. Thus the predicted very low solubility of iron must be seriously considered in future models of the Sun, since it may drastically decrease the opacity and, through this effect, provide an explanation for the neutrino dilemma.