Measuring Neutrino Oscillations in a Solar Neutrino Rest Frame

In summary, in order for neutrino oscillations to be observed, neutrinos must be in a mass eigenstate and the oscillation will be observed as a change in flavor.
  • #1
Spinnor
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If I moved in the rest frame of a solar neutrino would I still measure neutrino oscillations?

Thank you for any help!
 
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  • #2
Neutrino oscillations are a quantum effect. You can't observe them happening for a single neutrino any more than you can watch Schrodinger's cat oscillate between live and dead. The neutrino state created by a weak decay in the sun is a well-defined neutrino flavor, but not an energy eigenstate. The oscillation takes place because, as the eigenstates that make up the state evolve, the flavor slowly evolves. The only way to observe the flavor of the neutrino is to absorb it with another weak interaction, and of course you can only do this once. Observing the oscillations requires statistics on many neutrinos.
 
  • #3
Bill_K said:
Neutrino oscillations are a quantum effect...The neutrino state created by a weak decay in the sun is a well-defined neutrino flavor, but not an energy eigenstate. The oscillation takes place because, as the eigenstates that make up the state evolve, the flavor slowly evolves...

Thank you! Here was my thinking going to bed. We have a source and a detector a large distance away. I want to know the wave function in a frame of reference that moves from source towards the detector with the average velocity of the neutrinos. In such a reference frame the momentum is minimized (at certain locations) but we are still left with a function that changes in time because of the rest masses? So in such a frame the mass states still interfere in time, flavor changes, we get the same outcomes in different frames? At some distance from the source interference stops because coherence stops? Are we then to think of these mass states being combinations of the flavor states?

Thanks for any help!
 
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  • #4
Stop...stop...stop...we're all getting off the track here. Go back to elementary QM.

For a neutrino to even have a rest frame, it must be in a mass eigenstate. If it's in a mass eigenstate, the overlap with the flavor eigenstates is a fixed number - it doesn't oscillate.
 
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  • #5
Vanadium 50 said:
Stop...stop...stop...we're all getting off the track here. Go back to elementary QM.

For a neutrino to even have a rest frame, it must be in a mass eigenstate. If it's in a mass eigenstate, the overlap with the flavor eigenstates is a fixed number - it doesn't oscillate.

I'm trying to think in terms of wave functions. They can be evaluated in different frames. The wave function has information about momentum? Go to a point in such a frame where momentum is minimized. Can we do this?
 
  • #6
Can a particle be a particle if it does not have a rest frame and invariant rest mass?

Neutrino mass eigenstates can properly be called particles with a rest frame and invariant rest mass, and flavor eigenstates are not particles in this sense. Yet neutrino flavor eigenstates are what we can experimentally observe through space-time events and so we commonly think of them as particles.

Consider beta decay. Neutrino mass eigenstates will have slightly different group velocities, and eventually the wave packets will be spatially separate. Quantum entanglement between the three mass eigenstate wave packets would seem to apply.
 
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1. What are neutrino oscillations?

Neutrino oscillations refer to the phenomenon where neutrinos change from one type to another as they travel through space. This is possible because neutrinos have a mass and therefore can interact with other particles.

2. How are neutrino oscillations measured?

Neutrino oscillations are measured by detecting the different types of neutrinos that are produced by sources such as the sun. This is done using specialized detectors that can detect the interactions of neutrinos with other particles.

3. What is the solar neutrino rest frame?

The solar neutrino rest frame is a reference frame that is centered on the sun and moves along with it as it travels through space. This reference frame is used to measure the properties of neutrinos emitted by the sun.

4. Why is measuring neutrino oscillations in the solar neutrino rest frame important?

Measuring neutrino oscillations in the solar neutrino rest frame is important because it allows us to better understand the properties of neutrinos and how they interact with other particles. This information can help us further our understanding of the universe and its fundamental particles.

5. What are the implications of measuring neutrino oscillations in the solar neutrino rest frame?

Measuring neutrino oscillations in the solar neutrino rest frame can have many implications, including providing evidence for the existence of neutrino mass, helping us understand the energy production processes in the sun, and potentially leading to new discoveries in particle physics and astrophysics.

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