Using the two-frequency approximation in a and in kilometres, the survival probability isThe slow coefficient is ; the fast one is . Since has period , the two individual oscillation periods areThe first broad trough is near km and the second near km; the slow component returns to its crest near km. Small, rapid ripples of depth about sit on the broad envelope. Averaging over unresolved fast oscillations replaces their squared sine by , giving .
Reactor survival probability and the limits of merging the fast frequencies
. Details. There is no single short period for the combined curve. If the supplied ratio is taken as exact, its mathematical common period is km, outside the plotted range; the approximate physical data do not warrant interpreting that commensurability as exact.
The figure also shows the unmerged expressionFor that comparison take and enforce the identity , with a consistent sign convention. This illustrates the limitation identified in a: the simplified envelope is useful, but its individual fast ripples need not match the three-frequency result over 150 km. The supplied has no effect on vacuum electron-flavour disappearance.
For a rate measurement of the small mixing angle , choose the first fast disappearance maximum,A 47 km baseline instead lies near the slow oscillation maximum associated with . Its much lower flux, approximately falling as , and the many fast oscillations washed out by a reactor's broad energy spectrum make it a poor choice for this simple design. A medium-baseline spectral experiment can still constrain neutrino oscillation parameters if it has enough events and resolution; 47 km is not intrinsically useless, but it is not the optimal short-baseline rate experiment. In a, also affects the slow envelope through , so the sensitivity there is not identically zero.
