Postgraduate Science

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Neutrino Oscillations

Why electron neutrinos turn into muon ones, and the proof that neutrinos have mass.

Flavor eigenstates $|\nu_\alpha\rangle$ ($\alpha = e, \mu, \tau$) — what is produced/detected in weak interactions — are not mass eigenstates $|\nu_i\rangle$ ($i = 1, 2, 3$). They are related by a unitary PMNS matrix:

$$|\nu_\alpha\rangle = \sum_i U_{\alpha i} |\nu_i\rangle.$$

Mass eigenstates propagate with phases $e^{-iE_i t}$. For two-flavor mixing with angle $\theta$ and squared-mass difference $\Delta m^2 = m_2^2 - m_1^2$, the survival probability for ultra-relativistic neutrinos with energy $E$ travelling distance $L$ is

$$P(\nu_e \to \nu_e) = 1 - \sin^2(2\theta) \sin^2\!\left(\frac{\Delta m^2\, L}{4 E}\right).$$

(Convenient: $\Delta m^2$ in eV², $L$ in km, $E$ in GeV, prefactor $1.27$.)

Oscillations were established by atmospheric ($\nu_\mu$, Super-K 1998) and solar ($\nu_e$, SNO 2001) experiments — confirming nonzero neutrino mass (Nobel 2015). Mass hierarchy and CP violation in the neutrino sector are still active research.

Interactive: $P(\nu_e \to \nu_\mu)$ as a function of $L/E$

Quiz

1. Neutrino oscillations require:
2. The PMNS matrix:
3. Atmospheric oscillations (Super-K) primarily measured the squared-mass difference:
4. First oscillation maximum for two-flavor mixing occurs at:
5. Oscillation probability $\sin^2(2\theta)\sin^2(\cdot)$ has overall amplitude:
6. The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for: