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Correlated Wave Packet treatment of Neutrino and Neutral Meson Oscillations

Michael Nauenberg

Published Jan 1, 1999• 22 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A quantum wave packet treatment of neutrino and neutral K and B meson oscillations is presented which incorporates the recoil particle in the production process, and includes the effect of the localization and lifetime of the source assumed to be a resonance or unstable particle. This approach removes the ambiguities in the conventional single particle treatment of these oscillations with the recoil particle. A fundamental connection between the stochastic decay time of the source and the space-time coordinates of the correlated final state particles is derived.

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arXiv:hep-ph/9812441•Physics Letters B•Feb 1, 1999•24 citations
A quantum wave packet treatment of neutrino and neutral K and B meson oscillations is presented which incorporates the recoil particle in the production process, and includes the effect of the localization and lifetime of the source assumed to be a resonance or unstable particle. This approach removes the ambiguities in the conventional single particle treatment of these oscillations with the recoil particle. A fundamental connection between the stochastic decay time of the source and the space-time coordinates of the correlated final state particles is derived.
We study the oscillations of neutrinos in a model in which the neutrino is coupled to a localized, idealized source and detector. By varying the spatial and temporal resolution of the source and detector we are able to model the full range of source and detector types ranging from coherent to incoherent. We find that this approach is useful in understanding the interface between the quantum mechanical nature of neutrino oscillations on the one hand and the production and detection systems on the other hand. This method can easily be extended to study the oscillations of other particles such as the neutral KKK and BBB mesons. We find that this approach gives a reliable way to treat the various ambiguities which arise when one examines the oscillations from a wave packet point of view. We demonstrate that the conventional oscillation formula is correct in the relativistic limit and that several recent claims of an extra factor of 2 in the oscillation length are incorrect. We also demonstrate explicitly that the oscillations of neutrinos which have separated spatially may be ``revived'' by a long coherent measurement.
The controversies regarding the oscillation formula are reviewed. The different existing quantum field treatments of oscillations are reconciled by a thorough study of the external wave packet model. Stationary models are shown to be a particular case of this model. All decoherence terms are computed explicitly, so that it becomes clear that the coherence length tends to infinity in the stationary limit. Decoherence is shown to originate not only in the separation of wave packets, but also in their dispersion. Relativistic and nonrelativistic oscillating particles are treated on the same footing. The oscillation formula is derived for an unstable particle within the same formalism. Finally, correlated oscillations are discussed in detail.
We point out three apparent inconsistencies in the treatment of oscillation coherence from reactor neutrino and source neutrino experiments in recent paper "Damping of neutrino oscillations, decoherence and the lengths of neutrino wave packets''. First, that the dependence of the oscillation probability upon the subsequent interactions of entangled recoil particles implies causality violations and in some situations superluminal signaling; second, that integrating over a non-orthogonal basis for the entangled recoil leads to unphysical effects; and third, that the question of what interactions serve to measure the position of the initial state particle remains ambiguous. These points taken together appear to undermine the claim made therein that the effects of wave packet separation must be strictly unobservable in reactor and radioactive source based neutrino experiments.
Abstract Quantum correlations provide a fertile testing ground for investigating fundamental aspects of quantum physics in various systems, especially in the case of relativistic (elementary) particle systems as neutrinos. In a recent paper, Ming et al. (Eur Phys J C 80:275, 2020), in connection with results of Daya-Bay and MINOS experiments, have studied the quantumness in neutrino oscillations in the framework of plane-wave approximation. We extend their treatment by adopting the wave packet approach that accounts for effects due to localization and decoherence. This leads to a better agreement with experimental results, in particular for the case of MINOS experiment.
The problem of particle oscillation is considered in a pedagogical and comprehensive way. Examples from K, B and neutrino physics are given. Conceptual difficulties of the traditional approach to particle oscillation are discussed. It is shown how the probability current density and the wave packet treatments of particle oscillations resolve some problems. It is also shown that only full field theoretical approach is free from conceptual difficulties. The possibility of oscillation of particles produced together with kaons or neutrinos is considered in full wave packet quantum mechanics language. Precise definition of the oscillation of particles which recoil against mixed states is given. The general amplitude which describes the oscillation of two particles in the final states is found. Using this EPR-type amplitude the problem of oscillation of particles recoiling against kaons or neutrinos is resolved. The relativistic EPR correlations on distances of the order of coherence lengths are considered.