Effect of spacetime geometry on neutrino oscillations
Abstract
Propagation of fermions in spacetime requires a spin connection, which can be split into a universal gravitational part and a non-universal "contorsion" part. The latter is non-dynamical and can be eliminated from the theory, leaving an effective four-fermion interaction with unknown coupling constants. The generic form of the contorsion-fermion coupling, and thus the four-fermion interaction, breaks chiral symmetry. This interaction affects all fermions—in particular neutrinos passing through matter will notice a contribution to their effective Hamiltonian, just like the MSW effect coming from weak interactions, but diagonal in the mass basis rather than the flavor basis. Then there is a possibility that this geometrical contribution is not negligible for neutrinos passing through normal matter, provided the coupling constants are not too small. We calculate the matter potential due to this interaction and thus write the conversion and survival probabilities including its effect. We plot conversion probabilities of
- Publication:
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European Physical Journal Plus
- Pub Date:
- June 2024
- DOI:
- 10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05296-8
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2302.10945
- Bibcode:
- 2024EPJP..139..461B
- Keywords:
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- High Energy Physics - Phenomenology;
- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
- E-Print:
- Several results and plots added. Some details of calculations removed