Symmetry and bipolar motion in collective neutrino flavor oscillations

Abstract

We identify a geometric symmetry on the two-flavor Bloch sphere for collective flavor oscillations of a homogeneous dense neutrino gas. Based on this symmetry, analytical solutions to the periodic bipolar flavor evolution are derived. Using numerical calculations, we show that for configurations without this symmetry, the flavor evolution displays deviations from the bipolar flavor motion or even exhibits aperiodic patterns. We also discuss the implication of our finding for more general three-flavor and inhomogeneous cases.