Effects of mass eigenstate decay on neutrino oscillations in Reissner-Nordström spacetime and in f (R) gravity

Abstract

A neutrino flavour eigenstate can be described as a wave function with a linear dependence on a number of mass eigenstates. Quantum mechanical time oscillations of these mass eigenstates mean that the wave function changes as the neutrinos travel through spacetime, making it possible for a new flavour to be detected. This project focuses on the two-neutrino model and investigates how the probability of finding a new neutrino flavour varies if the heavier mass eigenstate were to decay into the lighter one as the neutrinos travel from the source to the detector. The extent of such changes is considered in a Reissner-Nordstrom spacetime and again by using the Palatini formulism of f(R) Gravity, and can in turn yield information on the spacetime in question. Differences between neutrinos with zero angular momentum and neutrinos with non-zero angular momentum are also taken into account.