Neutrino Decoherence via Modified Dispersion

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum decoherence, possibly linked to quantum gravity, affects neutrino oscillations, especially in high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, proposing methods to detect such effects through flux composition variations.

Contribution

It introduces a phenomenological parametrization of energy-dependent decoherence effects from modified neutrino dispersion relations within an open quantum system framework.

Findings

Flux composition variations can probe decoherence effects.

Heavy sterile neutrino decoherence produces detectable signatures.

Sensitivity to high-energy astrophysical neutrinos enhances testing capabilities.

Abstract

We study in detail the effect of quantum decoherence in neutrino oscillations. We adopt a phenomenological approach that allows us to parametrize the energy dependence of the decoherence effects resulting from the modification of the neutrino dispersion relation. Using the open quantum system framework we derive decoherence parameters, which are usually connected to quantum gravitational effects. Furthermore, we study the sensitivity of decoherence on high-energy astrophysical neutrinos among all possible initial source compositions. We find that variation in the flux composition at neutrino telescopes can be a good probe to test such effects. Additionally, we show that a simple extension with heavy sterile neutrino decoherence produces verifiable signatures.