A discussion about chiral oscillations and spin flipping

Abstract

In this paper we present a brief discussion on the concept of chirality which can appear when we construct the interacting lagrangian of the electroweak theory. In order to put the concepts we are studying in a clearer context, we introduce a brief description of the status of neutrino quantum oscillation problem. In fact, the chirality as well as the helicity correspond to a quantum character of fundamental importance in the study of neutrino physics or, generically, of particle physics. In this context, the effects of chiral oscillation can be explained as a consequence of the zitterbewegung phenomenon which emerges when Dirac equation solutions are used for describing the space-time evolution of a wave packet. We demonstrate, however, that there is not a constraint between such a phenomenon and the spin flipping process which is related to the quantum number of helicity of the propagating particle.

chirality; helicity; oscillations