Where neutrino decoherence lies
Abstract Recently, several studies of neutrino oscillations in the vacuum have not found the decoherence long expected from the separation of wave packets of neutrinos in different mass eigenstates. We show that such decoherence will, on the other hand, be present in a treatment including any mechan...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2022-12-01
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| Series: | European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11090-6 |
| _version_ | 1797863763900104704 |
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| author | Emilio Ciuffoli Jarah Evslin |
| author_facet | Emilio Ciuffoli Jarah Evslin |
| author_sort | Emilio Ciuffoli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Recently, several studies of neutrino oscillations in the vacuum have not found the decoherence long expected from the separation of wave packets of neutrinos in different mass eigenstates. We show that such decoherence will, on the other hand, be present in a treatment including any mechanism which leads to a dependence of the final state on both the neutrino’s emission and absorption time. Using a simplified model in $$1+1$$ 1 + 1 d, we show that if the positions of the final state particles are measured, or equivalently entangled with the environment, then decoherence will damp neutrino oscillations. We also show that wave packet spreading can cause the decoherence to eventually saturate, without completely suppressing the oscillations. These results are not an artifact of the approximation used: we show that, considering the $$V-A$$ V - A model in $$3+1$$ 3 + 1 d, the difference would be simply a total multiplicative factor that would not affect the oscillation probability nor the decoherence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T22:40:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3755f240930476da51e326bd9b81326 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1434-6052 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T22:40:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3755f240930476da51e326bd9b813262023-03-22T12:11:29ZengSpringerOpenEuropean Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields1434-60522022-12-01821211710.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11090-6Where neutrino decoherence liesEmilio Ciuffoli0Jarah Evslin1Institute of Modern PhysicsInstitute of Modern PhysicsAbstract Recently, several studies of neutrino oscillations in the vacuum have not found the decoherence long expected from the separation of wave packets of neutrinos in different mass eigenstates. We show that such decoherence will, on the other hand, be present in a treatment including any mechanism which leads to a dependence of the final state on both the neutrino’s emission and absorption time. Using a simplified model in $$1+1$$ 1 + 1 d, we show that if the positions of the final state particles are measured, or equivalently entangled with the environment, then decoherence will damp neutrino oscillations. We also show that wave packet spreading can cause the decoherence to eventually saturate, without completely suppressing the oscillations. These results are not an artifact of the approximation used: we show that, considering the $$V-A$$ V - A model in $$3+1$$ 3 + 1 d, the difference would be simply a total multiplicative factor that would not affect the oscillation probability nor the decoherence.https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11090-6 |
| spellingShingle | Emilio Ciuffoli Jarah Evslin Where neutrino decoherence lies European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| title | Where neutrino decoherence lies |
| title_full | Where neutrino decoherence lies |
| title_fullStr | Where neutrino decoherence lies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Where neutrino decoherence lies |
| title_short | Where neutrino decoherence lies |
| title_sort | where neutrino decoherence lies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11090-6 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emiliociuffoli whereneutrinodecoherencelies AT jarahevslin whereneutrinodecoherencelies |