Non equilibrium dynamics of mixing, oscillations and equilibration: a model study

dc.creatorBoyanovsky, D.
dc.creatorHo, C. M.
dc.date2006-10-03
dc.date2007-05-11
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:25:35Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:25:35Z
dc.descriptionThe non-equilibrium dynamics of mixing, oscillations and equilibration is studied in a field theory of flavored neutral mesons that effectively models two flavors of mixed neutrinos, in interaction with other mesons that represent a thermal bath of hadrons or quarks and charged leptons. This model describes the general features of neutrino mixing and relaxation via charged currents in a medium. The reduced density matrix and the non-equilibrium effective action that describes the propagation of neutrinos is obtained by integrating out the bath degrees of freedom. We obtain the dispersion relations, mixing angles and relaxation rates of ``neutrino'' quasiparticles. The dispersion relations and mixing angles are of the same form as those of neutrinos in the medium, and the relaxation rates are given by $Γ_1(k) = Γ_{ee}(k) \cos^2θ_m(k)+Γ_{μμ}(k)\sin^2θ_m(k) ; Γ_2(k)= Γ_{μμ}(k) \cos^2θ_m(k)+Γ_{ee}(k)\sin^2θ_m(k) $ where $Γ_{αα}(k)$ are the relaxation rates of the flavor fields in \emph{absence} of mixing, and $θ_m(k)$ is the mixing angle in the medium. A Weisskopf-Wigner approximation that describes the asymptotic time evolution in terms of a non-hermitian Hamiltonian is derived. At long time $>>Γ^{-1}_{1,2}$ ``neutrinos'' equilibrate with the bath. The equilibrium density matrix is nearly diagonal in the basis of eigenstates of an \emph{effective Hamiltonian that includes self-energy corrections in the medium}. The equilibration of ``sterile neutrinos'' via active-sterile mixing is discussed.
dc.description28 pages, 3 figures, version to appear in PRD
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0610036
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0610036
dc.identifierPhys.Rev.D75:085004,2007
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevD.75.085004
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/176589
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Phenomenology
dc.titleNon equilibrium dynamics of mixing, oscillations and equilibration: a model study
dc.typetext

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