Quantum coherence and entanglement in neutral-current neutrino oscillation in matter

Abstract

AbstractAlthough neutrino–antineutrino states originating from neutral-current interactions are blind concerning the flavor state, an oscillation pattern is predicted provided that both neutrino and antineutrino are detected. This issue arises from both the coherence and entanglement of the neutrino–antineutrino states. Based on quantum resource theory, we use the $$l_1$$ l 1 -norm and concurrence to quantify quantum coherence and entanglement, respectively. Considering the localization properties by the wave packet approach and a matter potential which appears when neutrino and antineutrino propagate in a material medium, we obtain the $$l_1$$ l 1 -norm and concurrence. We see that the neutrino and antineutrino remain entangled for larger baseline lengths when they propagate in a material medium. In the case of the coherence property, the $$l_1$$ l 1 -norm decreases in comparison to the corresponding one in vacuum. However, its damping occurs for larger distances.