Published January 21, 2013 | Version v1
Journal article

Can gravitation accelerate neutrinos?

  • 1. Departamento de Ciencias, Facultad de Artes Liberales, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago (Chile)
  • 2. Institute for Fusion Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States)

Description

The Lagrangian equations of motion for massive spinning test particles (tops) moving on a gravitational background using general relativity are presented. The paths followed by tops are nongeodesic. An exact solution for the motion of tops on a Schwarzschild background which allows for superluminal propagation of tops is studied. It is shown that the solution becomes relevant for particles with small masses, such as neutrinos. This general result is used to calculate the necessary condition to produce superluminal motion in part of the trajectory of a small mass particle in a weak gravitational field. The condition for superluminal motion establishes a relation between the mass, energy and total angular momentum of the particle. (paper)

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381/30/2/025008

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Classical and Quantum Gravity
Journal Volume
30
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
[10 p.]
ISSN
0264-9381
CODEN
CQGRDG