文档介绍：Talk presented at the Neutrino Oscillation Workshop (NOW’98), ANL-HEP-CP-98- 126
Amsterdam, herlands, 7-9 September 1998.
Quantum Mechanics of Neutrino Oscillations - Hand Waving for
Pedestrians
Harry J. Lipkin *
Department of Particle Physics Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
School of Physics and Astronomy, Raymond and Beverly SackleT Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel
Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Iin’ael
High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laborato~, ATgonne, IL6O~39-~8l5, USA
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Abstract
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Why Hand Waving? All calculations in books describe oscillations in
time. But real experiments don’t measure time. Hand waving is used to
convert the results of a ctgedanken time experiment” to the result of a real
experiment measuring oscillations in space. Right hand waving gives the right
answer; wrong hand waving gives the wrong answer. Mauy papers use wrong
handwaving to get wrong answers. This talk explains how to do it right amd
also answers the following questions:
1. A neutrino which is a mixture of two mass eigenstates is emitted with
muon in the.~ay of a pion at rest. This is a a %issing mass experiment”
where the mut$inenergy determines the neutrino mass. Why are the two mass
states coherent ?
2. A neutrino which is a mixture of two mass eigenstates is emitted at
time t=0. The two mass eigenstates move with different velocities and arrive
at the detector at different times. Why are the two mass states coherent?
3. A neutrino is a mixture of two overlapping wave packets with different
masses moving with different velocities. WiIl the wave packets eventually
separate? If yes, when?
“Supported in part by The German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development
(GIF) and by the . Department of Energy, Division of High Energy physics, COntraCt W-31-
The submitted manuscript has been created
109-ENG-38. by the University o