Mixed state geometric phase for neutrino oscillations

Abstract

The geometric picture of neutrino oscillations offers a unique way to study the quantum mechanics of this phenomenon. In this picture, the propagation of a neutrino beam is described by a density matrix evolving in a state space with non-trivial geometry. We derive explicit expressions of the mixed state geometric phase which arise during such an evolution for both two and three flavor neutrino oscillations. We show that, in the case of two flavor neutrino oscillations, the geometric phase is independent of the Majorana phase and it can be used as a measure of coherence of the neutrino beam.