Neutrino oscillations with disentanglement of a neutrino from its partners

Abstract

We argue that in order to understand existing data on neutrino oscillations, and to design future experiments, it is imperative to appreciate the role of quantum entanglement. Once this is accounted for, the resulting energy-momentum-conserving phenomenology requires a single new parameter related to disentanglement of a neutrino from its partners. This parameter may not be CP symmetric. We illustrate the new ideas, with potentially measurable effects, in the context of a novel experiment recently proposed by Gavrin, Gorbachev, Veretenkin, and Cleveland. The strongest impact of our ideas is on the resolution of various anomalies in neutrino oscillations and on neutrino propagation in astrophysical environments. Copyright © 2011 EPLA.