Physics Letters B (Feb 2020)
Neutrino decoherence in presence of strong gravitational fields
Abstract
We explore the impact of strong gravitational fields on neutrino decoherence. To this aim, we employ the density matrix formalism to describe the propagation of neutrino wave packets in curved spacetime. By considering Gaussian wave packets, we determine the coherence proper time, neglecting the effect of matter outside the compact object. We show that strong gravitational fields nearby compact objects significantly influence neutrino coherence. Keywords: Neutrino masses and mixings, Neutrino decoherence, Neutrino propagation in curved spacetime