Flavor neutrino states for pedestrians

Abstract

Abstract In this paper we discuss the ontology of flavor states of oscillating neutrinos. While an heuristic approach to this subject, experimentally successful in the high energy regime, is generally adopted, a logically consistent definition of flavor states describing neutrinos produced and detected in weak processes is still desirable and essential from a theoretical perspective. Here we briefly review basic facts and present some arguments which suggest that the definition of flavor states as eigenstates of flavor charges is the most reasonable one.