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quantum mixing

(particle mixing)
(means by which one particle spontaneously changes to another)

Quantum mixing (or particle mixing) is a quantum-mechanical phenomena in which one elementary particle changes into another, in a weak interaction. I suspect it is considered different than decaying if the changes form a loop, i.e., eventually, it returns back to the same particle, and has no (or minimal) interaction with its surroundings, a type of oscillation. Quarks are considered to undergo this phenomena (CKM mixing). A mixing of leptons is behind neutrino oscillation and the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect (MSW effect) is a phenomenon that affects this oscillation, which applies to energetic solar neutrinos. In supersymmetric models, neutralinos are the result of quantum mixing, in this case, treating the resulting "loop" as a single type of particle.


(physics,particles,quantum mechanics)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa_matrix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_state#Mixed_states

Referenced by pages:
Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect (MSW effect)
neutralino
neutrino oscillation
supersymmetry (SUSY)

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