Neutrino Oscillations: The Quantum Evidence for Massive Neutrinos
Neutrino flavour oscillation, solar neutrino problem, atmospheric neutrino problem, matter effect
Though discovered in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli to explain a discrepancy in beta decay and first experimentally observed in 1956, neutrinos have largely remained a mystery in the years since. Neutrinos are similar to electrons, though without charge, and interact very weakly with matter. They were, for long, assumed to be massless. However, the study of the neutrino flavour oscillation - which prompted the Nobel prize in 2015 - has provided evidence for the existence of their very small masses.
Neutrino flavour oscillation is a phenomenon in which neutrinos change from one flavour( electron, tau, muon) to another as they travel through space due to the quantum mechanical mixing of their mass states. This phenomenon was first experimentally confirmed through solar neutrinos. Electron neutrinos are born as a result of nuclear fusion in the sun. However, when observed from Earth, the number of neutrinos detected was less than expected. This was the solar neutrino problem and was explained by the fact that about 2/3rd of the electron neutrinos from the sun changed their flavour as they traveled to Earth and were therefore not detected. Neutrino flavour oscillations were also observed in atmospheric neutrinos which are produced when cosmic ray particles collide with the nuclei in the earth's atmosphere, producing pions and kaons which decay into electron and muon neutrinos. The atmospheric neutrino problem refers to the discrepancy between the expected rate of electron and muon neutrino interactions and the number actually detected by detectors under the surface of the earth, namely a lower-than-expected muon neutrino interaction rate. This was explained by the fact that muon neutrinos oscillated to tau neutrinos and were therefore not detected readily. These problems are further solved using the matter effect, which describes how neutrino oscillations are significantly modified when neutrinos travel through matter, as compared to a vacuum. This is due to the interaction of neutrinos with electrons, protons and neutrons in the medium which alters their effective masses and mixing angles, thereby altering the probability of flavour oscillations.
This paper aims to derive a heuristic model for neutrino flavour oscillation by treating them as simple pendulum mechanical states, and then numerically plotting the probability of neutrino flavour oscillations as a function of length and energy. It will additionally explore solar and atmospheric neutrinos and the matter effect. The findings from this project offer a deeper understanding of neutrino oscillations as well as a model that can aid in the interpretation of experimental data and explore the fundamental nature of neutrinos and their role in the universe.
"Neutrino Oscillations: The Quantum Evidence for Massive Neutrinos", IJSDR - International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (www.IJSDR.org), ISSN:2455-2631, Vol.9, Issue 12, page no.a208-a222, December-2024, Available :https://ijsdr.org/papers/IJSDR2412027.pdf
Volume 9
Issue 12,
December-2024
Pages : a208-a222
Paper Reg. ID: IJSDR_300006
Published Paper Id: IJSDR2412027
Downloads: 000347186
Research Area: Physics All
Country: New Delhi, Delhi, India
ISSN: 2455-2631 | IMPACT FACTOR: 9.15 Calculated By Google Scholar | ESTD YEAR: 2016
An International Scholarly Open Access Journal, Peer-Reviewed, Refereed Journal Impact Factor 9.15 Calculate by Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool, Multidisciplinary, Monthly, Multilanguage Journal Indexing in All Major Database & Metadata, Citation Generator
Publisher: IJSDR(IJ Publication) Janvi Wave
