Synchronization vs. decoherence of neutrino oscillations at intermediate densities

Abstract

We study collective oscillations of a two-flavor neutrino system with arbitrary but fixed density. In the vacuum limit, modes with different energies quickly de-phase (kinematical decoherence), whereas in the limit of infinite density they lock to each other (synchronization). For intermediate densities, we find different classes of solutions. There is always a phase transition in the sense of partial synchronization occurring only above a density threshold. For small mixing angles, partial or complete decoherence can be induced by a parametric resonance, introducing a new time scale to the problem, the final outcome depending on the spectrum and mixing angle. We derive an analytic relation that allows us to calculate the late-time degree of coherence based on the spectrum alone.

11 pages, including 13 figures. Clarifying paragraphs and 2 figures added; results unchanged. Matches published version in PRD

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• Self-induced flavor conversion of supernova neutrinos on small scales
• Fast Neutrino Flavor Conversion: Collective Motion vs. Decoherence
• Spurious instabilities in multiangle simulations of collective flavor conversion
• Dynamics of fast neutrino flavor conversions with scattering effects: a detailed analysis
• Decoherence and oscillations of supernova neutrinos
• N-mode coherence in collective neutrino oscillations
• Neutrino flavor pendulum in both mass hierarchies
• Dynamical Phase Transitions in models of Collective Neutrino Oscillations
• Quantum information and quantum simulation of neutrino physics
• Another look at synchronized neutrino oscillations
• Many-body collective neutrino oscillations: recent developments
• Spatiotemporal linear instability analysis of collective neutrino flavor conversion in 4-dimensional spacetime
• Coherence of oscillations in matter and supernova neutrinos
• Relating quantum mechanics and kinetics of neutrino oscillations
• Decoherence effect in neutrinos produced in micro-quasar jets
• Accounting for the Heisenberg and Pauli principles in the kinetic approach to neutrino oscillations
• Decoherence-effects in the neutrino-mixing mechanism: active and sterile neutrinos in the three flavor scheme