Collective Plasma Processes in the Solar Interior and the Problem of the Solar Neutrino Deficit

This review presents the results of recent calculations of collective plasma processes of radiation transport in the solar interior. The review introduces a remarkable number of effects previously neglected which are shown to reduce substantially the Rosseland opacity at the center of the Sun (the decrease of opacity is approximately 10% which is greater than previously accepted possible errors in opacity). It is also shown that effects, which were previously treated without taking into account the collective behavior of plasmas, change appreciably when the collective nature of the plasma is included. The analysis is based on the modern concepts of plasma physics in which an essential role is played by photon scattering on ions and the emission by the oscillation cloud of electrons surrounding the ions.