Mixing Transformations in Quantum Field Theory and Neutrino Oscillations

Abstract

Field mixing transformations are studied in quantum field theory and the generator of the transformations is found to induce an SU(2) coherent structure in the vacuum state, both for bosons and for fermions. The Fock space for mixed fields is unitarily inequivalent to the Fock space of the unmixed fields in the infinite volume limit. We study neutrino mixing and oscillations and find that the oscillation amplitude is depressed by a factor which is momentum and mass dependent. The usual formula is recovered in the relativistic limit. Phenomenological features of the modified oscillation formula are discussed. Finally, preliminary results of the Green's function formalism are presented.