Spin-flavor oscillations of neutrinos in rapidly varying external fields

Abstract

Spin-flavor oscillations of neutrinos in rapidly varying external fields are studied. A method for describing neutrino oscillations in arbitrary rapidly varying external fields is developed. An effective Hamiltonian that describes the evolution of the averaged neutrino wave function is obtained. Neutrino oscillations in rapidly varying magnetic fields are considered on the basis of the general formalism developed in this study. Neutrino transitions in a superposition of a constant and a rotating (in space) magnetic field that are transverse with respect to the neutrino velocity are studied. The probabilities of transitions in spin-flavor oscillations of neutrinos in the magnetic fields of the Sun are estimated. Numerical solutions to the Schrodinger equation for the Hamiltonian that describes neutrino interaction with a constant and a rotating (in space) magnetic field are given. It is shown that the approximate analytic formula obtained in the present study for the probability of neutrino transitions is consistent with the respective numerical solution to the evolution equation at high frequencies of the rotating magnetic fields.