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arXiv:2005.03022 · Journal of High Energy Physics

Probing neutrino quantum decoherence at reactor experiments

André de Gouvêa, Valentina De Romeri, Christoph A. Ternes

Published Aug 1, 2020• 35 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We explore how well reactor antineutrino experiments can constrain or measure the loss of quantum coherence in neutrino oscillations. We assume that decoherence effects are encoded in the size of the neutrino wave-packet, σ. We find that the current experiments Daya Bay and the Reactor Experiment for Neutrino Oscillation (RENO) already constrain σ > 1.0×10−4 nm and estimate that future data from the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) would be sensitive to σ < 2.1 × 10−3 nm. If the effects of loss of coherence are within the sensitivity of JUNO, we expect σ to be measured with good precision. The discovery of nontrivial decoherence effects in JUNO would indicate that our understanding of the coherence of neutrino sources is, at least, incomplete.

DOI
10.1007/jhep08(2020)049

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hep-phCross-listedarXiv:2609.10383•Sep 10, 2026
Abstract We explore how well reactor antineutrino experiments can constrain or measure the loss of quantum coherence in neutrino oscillations. We assume that decoherence effects are encoded in the size of the neutrino wave-packet, σ. We find that the current experiments Daya Bay and the Reactor Experiment for Neutrino Oscillation (RENO) already constrain σ > 1.0×10−4 nm and estimate that future data from the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) would be sensitive to σ < 2.1 × 10−3 nm. If the effects of loss of coherence are within the sensitivity of JUNO, we expect σ to be measured with good precision. The discovery of nontrivial decoherence effects in JUNO would indicate that our understanding of the coherence of neutrino sources is, at least, incomplete.
We explore how well reactor antineutrino experiments can constrain or measure the loss of quantum coherence in neutrino oscillations. We assume that decoherence effects are encoded in the size of the neutrino wave-packet,σ. We find that the current experiments Daya Bay and the Reactor Experiment for Neutrino Oscillation (RENO) already constrainσ >1.0×10-4nm and estimate that future data from the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) would be sensitive toσ <2.1×10-3nm. If the effects of loss of coherence are within the sensitivity of JUNO, we expectσto be measured with good precision. The discovery of nontrivial decoherence effects in JUNO would indicate that our understanding of the coherence of neutrino sources is, at least, incomplete.
Abstract We consider quantum-decoherence effects in neutrino oscillation data. Working in the open quantum system framework we adopt a phenomenological approach that allows to parameterize the energy dependence of the decoherence effects. We consider several phenomenological models. We analyze data from the reactor experiments RENO, Daya Bay and KamLAND and from the accelerator experiments NOvA, MINOS/MINOS+ and T2K. We obtain updated constraints on the decoherence parameters quantifying the strength of damping effects, which can be as low as Γij ≲ 8 × 10−27 GeV at 90% confidence level in some cases. We also present sensitivities for the future facilities DUNE and JUNO.
Abstract Spatial separation of the wave packets (WPs) of neutrino mass eigenstates leads to decoherence and damping of neutrino oscillations. Damping can also be caused by finite energy resolution of neutrino detectors or, in the case of experiments with radioactive neutrino sources, by finite width of the emitted neutrino line. We study in detail these two types of damping effects using reactor neutrino experiments and experiments with radioactive 51Cr source as examples. We demonstrate that the effects of decoherence by WP separation can always be incorporated into a modification of the energy resolution function of the detector and so are intimately entangled with it. We estimate for the first time the lengths σx of WPs of reactor neutrinos and neutrinos from a radioactive 51Cr source. The obtained values, σx = (2 × 10−5 − 1.4 × 10−4) cm, are at least six orders of magnitude larger than the currently available experimental lower bounds. We conclude that effects of decoherence by WP separation cannot be probed in reactor and radioactive source experiments.
Neutrino oscillation represents an intriguing physical phenomenon where the quantumness can be maintained and detected over a long distance. Previously, the nonclassical character of neutrino oscillation was tested with the Leggett-Garg inequality, where a clear violation of the classical bound was observed [J. A. Formaggio et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 050402 (2016)]. However, there are several limitations in testing neutrino oscillations with the Leggett-Garg inequality. In particular, the degree of violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality cannot be taken as a ``measure of quantumness.'' Here, we focus on quantifying the quantumness of experimentally observed neutrino oscillation, using the tools of the recently developed quantum resource theory. We analyzed ensembles of reactor and accelerator neutrinos at distinct energies from a variety of neutrino sources, including Daya Bay (0.5 and 1.6 km), KamLAND (180 km), MINOS (735 km), and T2K (295 km). The quantumness of the three-flavored neutrino oscillation is characterized within a $3\ensuremath{\sigma}$ range relative to the theoretical prediction. It is found that the maximal coherence was observed in the neutrino source from the KamLAND reactor. However, even though the survival probability of the Daya Bay experiment did not vary significantly (it dropped about 10%), the coherence recorded can reach up to 40% of the maximal value. These results represent the longest distance over which quantumness was experimentally determined for quantum particles other than photons.
Since neutrinos are quantum systems inherently, the precision with which oscillation parameters can be estimated ultimately depends on how much information about these parameters is encoded in the neutrino state and how efficiently that information can be extracted through measurement. In this work, we quantify how information encoded in reactor antineutrino states flows through the measurement process to the events observed at the detector, using quantum and classical Fisher information. We establish the information ladder for JUNO, revealing that the loss of precision across different information levels is strongly parameter dependent. We demonstrate that the JUNO configuration approaches the optimal statistical limit for the oscillation parameters of the solar sector, while information on θ13θ_{13}θ13​ and Δm312Δm_{31}^{2}Δm312​ is significantly degraded by the measurement strategy and detector effects. Despite this information loss, the remaining information is sufficient for JUNO to achieve sub-percent precision on Δm312Δm_{31}^{2}Δm312​ within six years.