4 ms·
No, the oscillations only depend on the difference between the squares of the masses. The fact that oscillations between the different flavors is observed just
by antognini 5y ago
No, the oscillations only depend on the difference between the squares of the masses. The fact that oscillations between the different flavors is observed just implies that the differences between the masses are all nonzero.
- addaon 5y agoBut wouldn't a zero-mass neutrino travel at c, and thus not experience time, and thus not be able to decay?
- antognini 5y agoIt's true that a zero mass neutrino would travel at c (just like any massless particle). But neutrino oscillations are not decays. It's more that the neutrino propagates as a mixture of eigenstates. There's nothing stopping one of these eigenstates from having zero mass (as far as we know). As an analogy, you could think of a photon with circular polarization traveling through a vacuum. If you measured its linear polarization you would sometimes find that it is up-down and other times left-right. The photon is massless but is still able to oscillate between these two linear polarizations because it is propagating with a mixture of these two polarizations.