9–11 Dec 2026
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati
Asia/Kolkata timezone

Understanding of neutrino oscillations using spin analogy

Not scheduled
20m
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati

Srinivasapuram Venkatagiri Road, Jangalapalli G, P), Yerpedu, Mandal, Panguru, Andhra Pradesh 517619
Poster Presentation High-energy physics

Speaker

Sampreeth Gopala (Azim Premji University)

Description

Nuclear fusion inside the Sun produces an enormous flux of electron neutrinos. However, solar neutrino experiments detected fewer electron neutrinos than predicted by theoretical models. This discrepancy was resolved by discovering that neutrinos oscillate into other neutrinos ($\nu_e \rightarrow \nu_\mu$ or $\nu_\tau$) during propagation. This indicates that the QM states in which neutrinos are produced are not eigenstates of the Hamiltonian responsible for their time propagation. This phenomenon has a nice analogy with spin in quantum mechanics: a state with $S_z = \frac{1}{2}$ at $t=0$ may have $S_z = +\frac{1}{2}$ or $-\frac{1}{2}$ at later times if the interactions that govern the state propagation do not commute with $S_z$. In this project, we study solar neutrino oscillations using a spin analogy. We start with two neutrino Flavors, extend to three Flavors, and extend the idea to MSW effects inside the Sun.

Other Fields of Research (Track) for Abstract

This project and presentation is specifically about neutrino oscillation. The tools which I use are fundamental to quantum mechanics. neutrino physics as a field comes under particle physics.
Thank you.

Nature of work Theoretical

Author

Sampreeth Gopala (Azim Premji University)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.