Abstract Since neutrino oscillations (NOs) show nonclassical features with the Leggett–Garg inequality and exhibit potential applications in quantum information processing and telecommunications, in order to further reveal quantum properties of the NO systems, we herein focus on investigating entanglement and entropic uncertainty relation in the context of three-flavor NOs. Specifically, we take advantage of three different types of entanglement measures to characterize quantum resources originating from NO systems, and examine the hierarchical relationship among them. Moreover, we analyze the experiment data from different neutrino sources including Daya Bay (0.5 and 1.6 km) and MINOS+ (735 km) collaborations in comparison with our theoretical results. We find that the dynamical evolution of both the entropic uncertainty and entanglement of system shows non-monotonicity, and the experimental results coincide with our theoretical prediction very well. Interestingly, it shows that neutrinos always maintain quantum properties during oscillation process. More importantly, we reveal that the variation of the uncertainty is almost anti-correlated with that of the entanglement of system. Therefore, the nature of entanglement and uncertainty in NOs can be explored in the practical experiment when the three-flavor neutrino states are treated as three-qubit ones, which might be useful for the potential NO-based applications on prospective quantum information processing.
Abstract Since neutrino oscillations (NOs) show nonclassical features with the Leggett–Garg inequality and exhibit potential applications in quantum information processing and telecommunications, in order to further reveal quantum properties of the NO systems, we herein focus on investigating entanglement and entropic uncertainty relation in the context of three-flavor NOs. Specifically, we take advantage of three different types of entanglement measures to characterize quantum resources originating from NO systems, and examine the hierarchical relationship among them. Moreover, we analyze the experiment data from different neutrino sources including Daya Bay (0.5 and 1.6 km) and MINOS+ (735 km) collaborations in comparison with our theoretical results. We find that the dynamical evolution of both the entropic uncertainty and entanglement of system shows non-monotonicity, and the experimental results coincide with our theoretical prediction very well. Interestingly, it shows that neutrinos always maintain quantum properties during oscillation process. More importantly, we reveal that the variation of the uncertainty is almost anti-correlated with that of the entanglement of system. Therefore, the nature of entanglement and uncertainty in NOs can be explored in the practical experiment when the three-flavor neutrino states are treated as three-qubit ones, which might be useful for the potential NO-based applications on prospective quantum information processing.
Abstract Neutrino oscillation is deemed as an interesting physical phenomenon and shows the nonclassical features made apparently by the Leggett–Garg inequality. The uncertainty principle is one of the fundamental features that distinguishes the quantum world to its classical counterpart. And the principle can be depicted in terms of entropy, which forms the so-called entropic uncertainty relations (EUR). In this work, the entropic uncertainty relations that are relevant to the neutrino-flavor states are investigated by comparing the experimental observation of neutrino oscillations to predictions. From two different neutrino sources, we analyze ensembles of reactor and accelerator neutrinos for different energies, including measurements performed by the Daya Bay collaboration using detectors at 0.5 and 1.6 km from their source, and by the MINOS collaboration using a detector with a 735km distance to the neutrino source. It is found that the entropy-based uncertainty conditions strengths exhibits non-monotonic evolutions as the energy increases. We also quantify the systemic quantumness measured by quantum correlation, and derive the intrinsic relationship between quantum correlation and EUR. Furthermore, we utilize EUR as a criterion to detect entanglement of neutrino-flavor state. Our results could illustrate the potential applications of neutrino oscillations on quantum information processing in the weak-interaction processes.
Abstract Neutrino oscillation is an important physical phenomenon in elementary particle physics, and its nonclassical features can be revealed by the Leggett–Garg inequality. It shows that its quantum coherence can be sustained over astrophysical length scales. In this work, we investigate the measure of quantumness in experimentally observed neutrino oscillations via the nonlocal advantage of quantum coherence (NAQC), quantum steering, and Bell nonlocality. From various neutrino sources, ensembles of reactor and accelerator neutrinos are analyzed at distinct energies, such as Daya Bay (0.5 km and 1.6 km) and MINOS (735 km) collaborations. The NAQC of two-flavor neutrino oscillation is characterized experimentally compared to the theoretical prediction. It exhibits non-monotonously evolutive phenomenon with the increase of energy. Furthermore, it is found that the NAQC is a stronger quantum correlation than quantum steering and Bell nonlocality even in the order of km. Hence, for an arbitrary bipartite neutrino-flavor state with achieving a NAQC, it must be also a steerable and Bell nonlocal state. The results might offer an insight into the neutrino oscillation for the further applications on quantum information processing.
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.
Studying the quantum resources of neutrino oscillations is a topic worth exploring. This review mainly introduces the use of quantum resource theory to characterize the quantum resource characteristics of three-flavor neutrino oscillations, and the specific evolutionary patterns of different entanglement measures in three-flavor neutrino oscillations. In addition, by comparing the cases of different entanglement evolutions, the optimal method of quantifying entanglement in three-flavor neutrino oscillations can be obtained. Moreover, this review also focuses on the quantifying the quantumness of neutrino oscillation observed experimentally by using the l1-norm of coherence. The maximal coherence is observed in the neutrino source from the KamLAND reactor. Furthermore, we examine the violation of the Mermin inequality and Svetlichny inequality to study the nonlocality in three-flavor neutrino oscillations. It is shown that even though the genuine tripartite nonlocal correlation is usually existent, it can disappear within specific time regions. In addition, this review also presents the trade-off relations in the quantum resource theory of three-flavor neutrino oscillations, mainly based on monogamy relations and complete complementarity relations. It is hoped that this review can bring inspiration to the development of this field.
This study examines the dynamics of quantumness in two-flavor neutrino oscillations subjected to a dephasing channel, using representative oscillation parameters associated with the KamLAND, MINOS, and Daya Bay experiments. We analyze three complementary quantum-correlation measures -- entanglement of formation (EOF), quantum discord (QD), and local quantum uncertainty (LQU) -- within an effective two-qubit description. In the unitary case, all three measures display oscillatory behavior controlled by flavor mixing, and their amplitudes are strongly shaped by the relevant mixing angle. MINOS exhibits the largest correlations because θ23 is close to maximal, KamLAND shows intermediate values associated with the solar sector, and Daya Bay yields smaller correlations due to the relatively small value of θ13. Under dephasing, the off-diagonal coherence terms are suppressed and the three quantifiers decrease accordingly, while QD remains non-zero in regimes where entanglement is weak. For pure states, LQU satisfies U=C2 and therefore tracks entanglement monotonically, whereas QD provides a broader witness of non-classical correlations. These results provide a compact quantum-information description of two-flavor neutrino oscillations in both coherent and dephased regimes. We also quantify the sensitivity of these observables to oscillation and decoherence parameters, showing that their main added value relative to flavor probabilities is their direct response to off-diagonal coherence loss.
Abstract The burgeoning intersection of particle physics and quantum information science unveils significant connections, particularly in the context of neutrinos–fundamental particles that challenge our understanding of mass, mixing, and coherence at the quantum level. This work investigates the quantum informational aspects of two-flavor neutrino oscillations, treating neutrino flavor change as a dynamic carrier of quantum resources in addition to a fundamental lepton physics phenomenon. Employing realistic experimental parameters from the Daya Bay, KamLAND, and MINOS experiments, we systematically evaluate four key quantum metrics: quantum coherence, entanglement, local quantum Fisher information (LQFI), and Bell non-locality. Our formalism utilizes time-dependent density matrices, incorporating environmental interactions modeled by a correlated dephasing channel to capture both Markovian (memoryless) and non-Markovian (memory-retaining) regimes. In the Markovian regime, coherence and LQFI exhibit exponential decay, with MINOS demonstrating the highest persistence of quantum features attributed to its long baseline (735 km) and high energy range (0.5–50 GeV). KamLAND, with a medium baseline and moderate energy, shows intermediate behavior, while Daya Bay’s short baseline limits the survival of these quantum properties. Notably, Bell non-locality violation in the Markovian regime is exclusive to MINOS under high classical correlation strength, whereas Daya Bay and KamLAND remain within classical bounds. Across both regimes, particularly the non-Markovian where information backflow enhances coherence and entanglement, MINOS consistently emerges as the most robust setup for the preservation of quantum information.