Can oscillating neutrino states be formulated universally?

Abstract

Abstract A standing problem in neutrino physics is the consistent and universal definition of oscillating neutrino states as coherent superpositions of massive neutrino states. This problem is solved in a quantum field theoretical framework of neutrino mixing developed in analogy with the Nambu–Jona–Lasinio model for the dynamical generation of nucleon masses. The massive neutrino states are Bogoliubov quasiparticles and their vacuum is a condensate of “Cooper pairs” of massless flavour neutrinos. Their superpositions as oscillating neutrino states have intrinsic quantum coherence by construction. In this quantization framework, the standard phenomenological flavour neutrino states and oscillation probability formula are validated in the ultrarelativistic approximation.