Neutrino decoherence and violation of the strong equivalence principle

TL;DR

This paper investigates how violations of the strong equivalence principle in extended gravity theories can influence neutrino wave-packet behavior, potentially leading to observable decoherence effects in future experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel link between strong equivalence principle violations and neutrino decoherence, highlighting measurable effects in extended gravity frameworks.

Findings

Strong equivalence principle violation affects neutrino wave-packet spreading

Decoherence effects can be modulated by gravity theory parameters

Potential for future experiments to detect these effects

Abstract

We analyze the dynamics of neutrino Gaussian wave-packets, the damping of flavor oscillations and decoherence effects within the framework of extended theories of gravity. In particular, we show that, when the underlying description of the gravitational interaction admits a violation of the strong equivalence principle, the parameter quantifying such a violation modulates the wave-packet spreading, giving rise to potentially measurable effects in future neutrino experiments.