Coherence and Wave Packets in Neutrino Oscillations

Abstract

General arguments in favor of the necessity of a wave packet description of neutrino oscillations are presented, drawing from analogies with other wave phenomena. We present a wave packet description of neutrino oscillations in stationary beams using the density matrix formalism. Recent claims of the necessity of an equal energy of different massive neutrinos are refuted.

Comments: 21 pages. Final version to be published in Foundations of Physics Letters