Interference effects in reactor antineutrino oscillations

Original · EN

We reformulate the probabilities of disappearance neutrino or antineutrino oscillations so as to single out the interference term proportional to the product of [Δm²₂₁ L/(4 E)] and [(Δm²₃₁ + Δm²₃₂) L/(4 E)], which is transparently sensitive to the neutrino mass ordering. We elaborate this issue for a reactor-based antineutrino oscillation experiment like JUNO, and take account of terrestrial matter effects. If a light sterile neutrino species contributes to P(νₑ → νₑ), we find that there will be a new interference term proportional to the product of ² 2θ₁₄, [Δm²₂₁ L/(4 E)] and [(Δm²₄₁ + Δm²₄₂) L/ (4 E)] in the standard parametrization of the (3+1) X (3+1) active-sterile neutrino mixing matrix.