Neutrino Oscillations

Highlights of the activity

1. have students write the weak basis in terms of the free state basis as an extension of our 2-level system knowledge
2. have them write these as time evolved states under the free space Hamiltonian
3. Simplify the energy eigenvalues of the free space Hamiltonian so the time expansion can be written more simply
4. have students calculate the probability for finding a muon starting with one flavor and ending with another

Reasons to spend class time on the activity

Neutrino Oscillations are an interesting and important topic in modern research, and gives an opportunity to apply the 2-state system to an exciting application. Super-K is fascinating to discuss, and is a good way to capture students future research attention as well.

Note this image was taken from: http://atlasobscura.com/place/super-kamiokande

Reflections

• Reflections from the original implementation.

• Reflections from "official" adapters/adopters.

• Reflections from the general public.

Instructor's Guide

• Wiki version