Neutral particle oscillation

A quantum process in which a neutral particle changes over time between distinguishable states, such as particle and antiparticle or different neutrino flavors. It occurs when the states that propagate differ from those that define the observable states.

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Quantum superposition: A quantum state formed from a linear combination of distinct possible states. An oscillating particle propagates as a superposition of states with different evolution phases.
Neutrino oscillation: The periodic change of a neutrino's flavor as it propagates. It is the experimentally established example involving different neutral-particle flavors.
Bruno Pontecorvo: A physicist who proposed neutrino–antineutrino transformations and later neutrino flavor mixing. His proposals established the theoretical possibility of neutrino oscillation.
Neutrino mass: The nonzero rest mass carried by neutrinos. Observed oscillations require distinct neutrino mass states and therefore nonzero mass differences.
Quantum coherence: The preservation of definite phase relationships between components of a quantum state. Coherence lets mixed components interfere and produce changing detection probabilities.
Neutrino oscillation experiments: Experiments that measure changes in neutrino flavor or flux with distance and energy. Their distance-dependent observations established flavor change during propagation.
Raymond Davis Jr.: An American chemist and physicist who led a pioneering solar-neutrino experiment. His experiment found fewer solar electron neutrinos than predicted, prompting oscillation explanations.
PMNS matrix: The unitary matrix relating neutrino flavor states to neutrino mass states. Its parameters quantify the mixing that governs neutrino oscillation probabilities.
Neutrino mixing: The mismatch between neutrino flavor states and neutrino mass states. This mismatch is the state-mixing mechanism behind neutrino flavor oscillation.
Kaon oscillation: The transformation of neutral kaons between particle and antiparticle states. Neutral kaons exhibit particle–antiparticle mixing rather than flavor conversion among neutrinos.