Neutrino Wave Packet Propagation in Gravitational Fields

Abstract

We discuss the propagation of neutrino wave packets in a Lense-Thirring space-time using a gravitational phase approach. We show that the neutrino oscillation length is altered by gravitational corrections and that neutrinos are subject to helicity flip induced by stellar rotation. For the case of a rapidly rotating neutron star, we show that absolute neutrino masses can be derived, in principle, from rotational contributions to the mass-induced energy shift, without recourse to mass generation models presently discussed in the literature.

Comments: Updated with more details; 9 pages, 8 figures