Field-Theoretical Treatment of Neutrino Oscillations: The Strength of the Canonical Oscillation Formula

TL;DR

This paper explores neutrino oscillations using a field-theoretical approach, deriving transition probabilities from Feynman diagrams and analyzing why the canonical oscillation formula remains robust.

Contribution

It introduces a field-theoretical framework that incorporates source and detector processes, providing a deeper understanding of neutrino oscillations and the robustness of the canonical formula.

Findings

Neutrino transition probabilities derived as cross sections from Feynman diagrams.

Neutrinos appear as propagators of mass eigenfields connecting source and detector.

The canonical oscillation formula is shown to be robust against corrections.

Abstract

We discuss conceptual aspects of neutrino oscillations with the main emphasis on the field-theoretical approach. This approach includes the neutrino source and detector processes and allows to obtain the neutrino transition or survival probabilities as cross sections derived from the Feynman diagram of the combined source - detection process. In this context, the neutrinos which are supposed to oscillate appear as propagators of the neutrino mass eigenfields, connecting the source and detection processes. We consider also the question why the canonical neutrino oscillation formula is so robust against corrections and discuss the nature of the oscillating neutrino state emerging in the field-theoretical approach.