Neutrino oscillation in the presence of background classical sources

TL;DR

This paper investigates how background classical sources like matter currents and gravitational waves influence neutrino oscillation, revealing they can alter neutrino helicity states during oscillation, which impacts astrophysical observations.

Contribution

It introduces the effects of classical sources on neutrino oscillation, specifically showing how they can change neutrino helicity states, a novel consideration in the field.

Findings

Classical sources can modify neutrino helicity during oscillation.

Matter currents and gravitational waves influence neutrino behavior.

Neutrino helicity changes have implications for astrophysical observations.

Abstract

The presence of background classical sources affects a quantum field theory significantly in different ways. Neutrino oscillation is a phenomenon that confirms that neutrinos are massive fermions in nature, a celebrated result in modern physics. Neutrino oscillation plays an important role in many astrophysical observations. However, the interactions between the background classical sources with neutrinos are not often considered. In the present article, we show the effect of some classical sources, namely matter currents, electromagnetic waves, torsion, and gravitational waves on neutrino oscillation. It is shown explicitly that the above sources can change the helicity state of neutrinos during neutrino oscillation.