Beyond sterile neutrinos and Pontecorvo framework

28 February 2023, Version 1
This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed by Cambridge University Press at the time of posting.

Abstract

Classically forbidden regions (CFRs) are common to both non-relativistic quantum mechanics, and to relativistic quantum field theory. It is known since 2001 that CFRcontributes roughly sixteen percent of energy to the ground state of a simple harmonic oscillator. Similarly, quantum field theoretic arguments yield a non-zero amplitude for a massive particle to cross the light cone (that is, into the CFR). The sign of these amplitudes are opposite for fermions and antifermions. This has given rise to an erroneous conclusion that amplitude to cross the lightcone is identically zero. This is true as long as a measurement does not reveal the considered object to be a particle or antiparticle. However, neutrino oscillation experiments do measure a neutrino $\nu$, or an antineutrino $\bar\nu$. Here we show that in the context of neutrino oscillations these observations have the potential to resolve various short baseline anomalies for a sufficiently light lowest mass eigenstate

Keywords

Classically forbidden regions
short baseline neutrino anomalies
LSND
KARMEN
JSNS$^2$

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