Volume 17: Pages 459-475, 2004
Are There “Neutrino Flavors”? Dialogue on the Principle of Mass‐Energy Equivalence
Ezzat G. Bakhoum
New Jersey Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 305, Marlton, New Jersey 08053 U.S.A.
This paper is a general dialogue on the principle of mass‐energy equivalence, in view of the conclusions reached in Phys. Essays 15, 87 (2002). A number of important questions about the total energy equation H = mv2 and its implications are discussed, particularly the relationship between this energy expression and the 4‐vector (Minkowski) representation of special relativity. As it became clear from Phys. Essays 15, 87 (2002) that the “neutrino” that is currently being detected in solar and other high‐energy nuclear reactions is not Pauli's particle (since it is an unnecessary‐proposition in explaining the beta‐decay reaction), a reinvestigation of certain key experiments of the past concerning neutrino physics becomes necessary. It is demonstrated that the principle of the existence of different neutrino “flavors” is very questionable.
Keywords: mass‐energy equivalence, special relativity, 4‐vectors, Minkowski coordinates, neutrino, neutrino flavors
Received: May 22, 2003; Published Online: December 15, 2008