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Title: Testing the principle of equivalence by solar neutrinos

Abstract

We discuss the possibility of testing the principle of equivalence with solar neutrinos. If there exists a violation of the equivalence principle quarks and leptons with different flavors may not universally couple with gravity. The method we discuss employs a quantum mechanical phenomenon of neutrino oscillation to probe into the non-university of the gravitational couplings of neutrinos. We develop an appropriate formalism to deal with neutrino propagation under the weak gravitational fields of the sun in the presence of the flavor mixing. We point out that solar neutrino observation by the next generation water Cherenkov detectors can improve the existing bound on violation of the equivalence principle by 3-4 orders of magnitude if the nonadiabatic Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein mechanism is the solution to the solar neutrino problem.

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
  1. Tokyo Metropolitan Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Physics
  2. National Lab. for High Energy Physics, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Washington Univ., Seattle, WA (United States). Inst. for Nuclear Theory
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (Japan)
OSTI Identifier:
10167714
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/40561-145
ON: DE94014972; IN: INT94-13-05; BR: 35KB01000/KB0300000; CNN: Grant 05640355; Grant 05-2115
DOE Contract Number:  
FG06-90ER40561
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Apr 1994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; 72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE; SOLAR NEUTRINOS; CHERENKOV COUNTERS; 661310; 662320; RELATIVITY AND GRAVITATION; NEUTRINO INTERACTIONS

Citation Formats

Minakata, Hisakazu, Washington Univ., Seattle, WA, Nunokawa, Hiroshi, and Washington Univ., Seattle, WA. Testing the principle of equivalence by solar neutrinos. United States: N. p., 1994. Web. doi:10.2172/10167714.
Minakata, Hisakazu, Washington Univ., Seattle, WA, Nunokawa, Hiroshi, & Washington Univ., Seattle, WA. Testing the principle of equivalence by solar neutrinos. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10167714
Minakata, Hisakazu, Washington Univ., Seattle, WA, Nunokawa, Hiroshi, and Washington Univ., Seattle, WA. 1994. "Testing the principle of equivalence by solar neutrinos". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10167714. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10167714.
@article{osti_10167714,
title = {Testing the principle of equivalence by solar neutrinos},
author = {Minakata, Hisakazu and Washington Univ., Seattle, WA and Nunokawa, Hiroshi and Washington Univ., Seattle, WA},
abstractNote = {We discuss the possibility of testing the principle of equivalence with solar neutrinos. If there exists a violation of the equivalence principle quarks and leptons with different flavors may not universally couple with gravity. The method we discuss employs a quantum mechanical phenomenon of neutrino oscillation to probe into the non-university of the gravitational couplings of neutrinos. We develop an appropriate formalism to deal with neutrino propagation under the weak gravitational fields of the sun in the presence of the flavor mixing. We point out that solar neutrino observation by the next generation water Cherenkov detectors can improve the existing bound on violation of the equivalence principle by 3-4 orders of magnitude if the nonadiabatic Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein mechanism is the solution to the solar neutrino problem.},
doi = {10.2172/10167714},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10167714}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1994},
month = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1994}
}