# Four-Neutrino Oscillations

## I Introduction

The existence of neutrino masses and mixing is today one of the hottest topics in high-energy physics and is considered as one of the best ways to obtain indications on the physics beyond the Standard Model. If neutrinos are massive and mixed, the left-handed components $`\nu _{\alpha L}`$ ($`\alpha =e,\mu ,\tau ,\mathrm{}`$) of the flavor neutrino fields are superpositions of the left-handed components $`\nu _{kL}`$ ($`k=1,\mathrm{},N`$) of neutrino fields with definite mass $`m_k`$, $`\nu _{\alpha L}={\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{N}{}}}U_{\alpha k}\nu _{kL}`$, where $`U`$ is a $`N\times N`$ unitary mixing matrix. In this case neutrino oscillations occur. From the measurement of the invisible decay width of the $`Z`$-boson it is known that the number of light active neutrino flavors is three, corresponding to $`\nu _e`$, $`\nu _\mu `$ and $`\nu _\tau `$. This implies that the number $`N`$ of massive neutrinos is bigger or equal to three. If $`N>3`$, in the flavor basis there are $`N_s=N3`$ sterile neutrinos, $`\nu _{s_1}`$, …, $`\nu _{s_{N_s}}`$. In this case the flavor index $`\alpha `$ takes the values $`e,\mu ,\tau ,s_1,\mathrm{},s_{N_s}`$.

Evidences in favor of neutrino oscillations have been found in solar neutrino experiments , in atmospheric neutrino experiments  and in the LSND accelerator experiment . The observed disappearance of atmospheric $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }`$’s can be explained by $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _\tau }`$ and/or $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _s}`$ transitions, the observed disappearance of solar $`\nu _e`$’s can be explained by $`\nu _e\nu _\mu `$ and/or $`\nu _e\nu _\tau `$ and/or $`\nu _e\nu _s`$ transitions, and $`\overline{\nu }_\mu \overline{\nu }_e`$ and $`\nu _\mu \nu _e`$ transitions have been observed in the LSND experiment.

## II The necessity of at least three independent $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐦^2`$’s

The three evidences in favor of neutrino oscillations found in solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments and in the accelerator LSND experiment imply the existence of at least three independent neutrino mass-squared differences. This can be seen by considering the general expression for the probability of $`\nu _\alpha \nu _\beta `$ transitions in vacuum, that can be written as (see )

$$P_{\nu _\alpha \nu _\beta }=\left|\underset{k=1}{\overset{N}{}}U_{\alpha k}^{}U_{\beta k}\mathrm{exp}\left(i\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2L}{2E}\right)\right|^2,$$
(1)   
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2m_k^2m_j^2`$, $`j`$ is any of the mass-eigenstate indices, $`L`$ is the distance between the neutrino source and detector and $`E`$ is the neutrino energy. The range of $`L/E`$ characteristic of each type of experiment is different: $`L/E10^{11}10^{12}\mathrm{eV}^2`$ for solar neutrino experiments, $`L/E10^210^3\mathrm{eV}^2`$ for atmospheric neutrino experiments and $`L/E1\mathrm{eV}^2`$ for the LSND experiment. From Eq. (1) it is clear that neutrino oscillations are observable in an experiment only if there is at least one mass-squared difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2L/2E0.1`$ (the precise lower bound depends on the sensitivity of the experiment) in a significant part of the energy and source-detector distance intervals of the experiment (if this condition is not satisfied, $`P_{\nu _\alpha \nu _\beta }\left|_kU_{\alpha k}^{}U_{\beta k}\right|^2=\delta _{\alpha \beta }`$). Since the range of $`L/E`$ probed by the LSND experiment is the smaller one, a large mass-squared difference is needed for LSND oscillations, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{LSND}}^210^1\mathrm{eV}^2`$. The 99% CL maximum likelihood analysis of the LSND data in terms of two-neutrino oscillations gives 

$$0.20\mathrm{eV}^2\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{LSND}}^22.0\mathrm{eV}^2.$$
(2)   
Furthermore, from Eq. (1) it is clear that a dependence of the oscillation probability from the neutrino energy $`E`$ and the source-detector distance $`L`$ is observable only if there is at least one mass-squared difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2L/2E1`$. Indeed, the exponentials of all the phases $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2L/2E1`$ are equal to one and the contributions of all the phases $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{kj}^2L/2E1`$ are washed out by the average over the energy and source-detector ranges characteristic of the experiment. Since a variation of the oscillation probability as a function of neutrino energy has been observed both in solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments and the ranges of $`L/E`$ characteristic of these two types of experiments are different from each other and different from the LSND range, two more mass-squared differences with different scales are needed:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^210^{12}10^{11}\mathrm{eV}^2\text{(VO)},\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^210^310^2\mathrm{eV}^2.$$
(3)   
The condition (3) for the solar mass-squared difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^2`$ has been obtained under the assumption of vacuum oscillations (VO). If the disappearance of solar $`\nu _e`$’s is due to the MSW effect (see ), the condition

$$\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^210^4\mathrm{eV}^2\text{(MSW)}$$
(4)   
must be fulfilled in order to have a resonance in the interior of the sun. Hence, in the MSW case $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^2`$ must be at least one order of magnitude smaller than $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^2`$.

It is possible to ask if three different scales of neutrino mass-squared differences are needed even if the results of the Homestake solar neutrino experiment is neglected, allowing an energy-independent suppression of the solar $`\nu _e`$ flux. The answer is that still the data cannot be fitted with only two neutrino mass-squared differences because an energy-independent suppression of the solar $`\nu _e`$ flux requires large $`\nu _e\nu _\mu `$ or $`\nu _e\nu _\tau `$ transitions generated by $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^2`$ or $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{LSND}}^2`$. These transitions are forbidden by the results of the Bugey  and CHOOZ  reactor $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ disappearance experiments and by the non-observation of an up-down asymmetry of $`e`$-like events in the Super-Kamiokande atmospheric neutrino experiment .

## III Four-neutrino schemes

The existence of three different scales of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2`$ imply that at least four light massive neutrinos must exist in nature. Here we consider the schemes with four light and mixed neutrinos, which constitute the minimal possibility that allows to accommodate the results of all neutrino oscillation experiments. In this case, in the flavor basis the three active neutrinos $`\nu _e`$, $`\nu _\mu `$, $`\nu _\tau `$ are accompanied by a sterile neutrino $`\nu _s`$.

The six types of four-neutrino mass spectra with three different scales of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2`$ that can accommodate the hierarchy $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^2\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^2\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{LSND}}^2`$ are shown qualitatively in Fig. III. In all these mass spectra there are two groups of close masses separated by the “LSND gap” of the order of 1 eV. In each scheme the smallest mass-squared difference corresponds to $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^2`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{21}^2`$ in schemes I and B, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{32}^2`$ in schemes II and IV, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{43}^2`$ in schemes III and A), the intermediate one to $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^2`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{31}^2`$ in schemes I and II, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{42}^2`$ in schemes III and IV, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{21}^2`$ in scheme A, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{43}^2`$ in scheme B) and the largest mass squared difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2=\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{LSND}}^2`$ is relevant for the oscillations observed in the LSND experiment. The six schemes are divided into four schemes of class 1 (I–IV) in which there is a group of three masses separated from an isolated mass by the LSND gap, and two schemes of class 2 (A, B) in which there are two couples of close masses separated by the LSND gap.

It has been show that the schemes of class 1 are disfavored by the data if also the negative results of short-baseline $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ disappearance experiments are taken into account . This is basically due to the fact that the non-observation of neutrino oscillations due to $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2`$ in short-baseline disappearance experiments imply that, in each scheme in Fig. III, $`\nu _e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ are mainly superpositions of one of the two groups of mass eigenstates separated by the LSND gap. Hence, in the schemes of class 1 $`\nu _e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ almost coincide with superpositions of the three grouped mass eigenstates or with the isolated mass eigenstate. Moreover, only the possibility of both $`\nu _e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ mainly superpositions of the three grouped mass eigenstates allows to explain the results of solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments with neutrino oscillations. This is because disappearance of solar $`\nu _e`$’s and atmospheric $`\nu _\mu `$’s is possible only if $`\nu _e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ have large mixing with the mass eigenstates whose mass-squared differences give $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^2`$. In all schemes of class 1 $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{sun}}^2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^2`$ are mass-squared differences between two of the three grouped mass eigenstates neutrinos. However, if both $`\nu _e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ are mainly superpositions of the three grouped mass eigenstates, short-baseline $`\nu _\mu \nu _e`$ oscillations due to $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2`$ are strongly suppressed and one can calculate that the allowed transition probability is smaller than that observed in the LSND experiment . Hence, we conclude that the schemes of class 1 are disfavored by neutrino oscillation data.

The two four-neutrino schemes of class 2 are compatible with the results of all neutrino oscillation experiments if the mixing of $`\nu _e`$ with the two mass eigenstates responsible for the oscillations of solar neutrinos ($`\nu _3`$ and $`\nu _4`$ in scheme A and $`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ in scheme B) is large and the mixing of $`\nu _\mu `$ with the two mass eigenstates responsible for the oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos ($`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ in scheme A and $`\nu _3`$ and $`\nu _4`$ in scheme B) is large . This is illustrated qualitatively in Figs. III and III, as we are going to explain.

Let us define the quantities $`c_\alpha `$, with $`\alpha =e,\mu ,\tau ,s`$, in the schemes A and B as

$$c_\alpha ^{(\mathrm{A})}\underset{k=1,2}{}|U_{\alpha k}|^2,c_\alpha ^{(\mathrm{B})}\underset{k=3,4}{}|U_{\alpha k}|^2.$$
(5)   
Physically $`c_\alpha `$ quantify the mixing of the flavor neutrino $`\nu _\alpha `$ with the two massive neutrinos whose $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2`$ is relevant for the oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos ($`\nu _1`$, $`\nu _2`$ in scheme A and $`\nu _3`$, $`\nu _4`$ in scheme B). The negative results of short-baseline disappearance experiments imply that 

$$c_\alpha a_\alpha ^0\text{or}c_\alpha 1a_\alpha ^0(\alpha =e,\mu ).$$
(6)   
The quantities $`a_e^0`$ and $`a_\mu ^0`$, that depend on $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2=\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{LSND}}^2`$, are obtained, respectively, from the exclusion plots of short-baseline $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ experiments (see ). From the exclusion curves of the Bugey reactor $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ disappearance experiment  and of the CDHS and CCFR accelerator $`\nu _\mu `$ disappearance experiments  it follows that $`a_e^03\times 10^2`$ for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2`$ in the LSND range (2) and $`a_\mu ^00.2`$ for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^20.4\mathrm{eV}^2`$.

The shadowed areas in Figs. III and III illustrate qualitatively the regions in the $`c_e`$$`c_\mu `$ plane allowed by the negative results of short-baseline $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ and $`\nu _\mu `$ disappearance experiments for a fixed value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2`$. Figure III is valid for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^20.3\mathrm{eV}^2`$ and shows that there are four regions allowed by the results of short-baseline disappearance experiments: region SS with small $`c_e`$ and $`c_\mu `$, region LS with large $`c_e`$ and small $`c_\mu `$, region SL with small $`c_e`$ and large $`c_\mu `$ and region LL with large $`c_e`$ and $`c_\mu `$. The quantities $`c_e`$ and $`c_\mu `$ can be both large, because the unitarity of the mixing matrix imply that $`c_\alpha +c_\beta 2`$ and $`0c_\alpha 1`$ for $`\alpha ,\beta =e,\mu ,\tau ,s`$. Figure III is valid for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^20.3\mathrm{eV}^2`$, where there is no constraint on the value of $`c_\mu `$ from the results of short-baseline $`\nu _\mu `$ disappearance experiments. It shows that there are two regions allowed by the results of short-baseline $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ disappearance experiments: region S with small $`c_e`$ and region L with large $`c_e`$.

Let us take now into account the results of solar neutrino experiments. Large values of $`c_e`$ are incompatible with solar neutrino oscillations because in this case $`\nu _e`$ has large mixing with the two massive neutrinos responsible for atmospheric neutrino oscillations and, through the unitarity of the mixing matrix, small mixing with the two massive neutrinos responsible for solar neutrino oscillations. Indeed, in the schemes of class 2 the survival probability $`P_{\nu _e\nu _e}^{\mathrm{sun}}`$ of solar $`\nu _e`$’s is bounded by $`P_{\nu _e\nu _e}^{\mathrm{sun}}c_e^2/2`$, and its possible variation $`\mathrm{\Delta }P_{\nu _e\nu _e}^{\mathrm{sun}}(E)`$ with neutrino energy $`E`$ is limited by $`\mathrm{\Delta }P_{\nu _e\nu _e}^{\mathrm{sun}}(E)\left(1c_e\right)^2`$ . If $`c_e`$ is large as in the LS or LL regions of Fig. III or in the L region of Fig. III, we have $`P_{\nu _e\nu _e}^{\mathrm{sun}}\left(1a_e^0\right)^2/21/2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }P_{\nu _e\nu _e}^{\mathrm{sun}}(E)(a_e^0)^210^3`$, for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2=\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{LSND}}^2`$ in the LSND range (2). Therefore, $`P_{\nu _e\nu _e}^{\mathrm{sun}}`$ is bigger than 1/2 and practically does not depend on neutrino energy. Since this is incompatible with the results of solar neutrino experiments interpreted in terms of neutrino oscillations, we conclude that the regions LS and LL in Fig. III and the region L in Fig. III are disfavored by solar neutrino data, as illustrated qualitatively by the vertical exclusion lines in Figs. III and III.

Let us consider now the results of atmospheric neutrino experiments. Small values of $`c_\mu `$ are incompatible with atmospheric neutrino oscillations because in this case $`\nu _\mu `$ has small mixing with the two massive neutrinos responsible for atmospheric neutrino oscillations. Indeed, the survival probability of atmospheric $`\nu _\mu `$’s is bounded by $`P_{\nu _\mu \nu _\mu }^{\mathrm{atm}}\left(1c_\mu \right)^2`$ , and it can be shown that the Super-Kamiokande up–down asymmetry of high-energy $`\mu `$-like events generated by atmospheric neutrinos, $`𝒜_\mu =0.311\pm 0.043\pm 0.01`$ , and the exclusion curve of the Bugey $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ disappearance experiment imply the upper bound $`c_\mu 0.45b_\mu ^{\mathrm{SK}}`$. This limit is depicted qualitatively by the horizontal exclusion lines in Figs. III and III. Therefore, we conclude that the regions SS and LS in Fig. III and the small-$`c_\mu `$ parts of the regions S and L in Fig. III are disfavored by atmospheric neutrino data.

Finally, let us consider the results of the LSND experiment. In the schemes of class 2 the amplitude of short-baseline $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}`$ oscillations is given by $`A_{\mu e}=\left|{\displaystyle \underset{k=1,2}{}}U_{ek}U_{\mu k}^{}\right|^2=\left|{\displaystyle \underset{k=3,4}{}}U_{ek}U_{\mu k}^{}\right|^2`$ ($`A_{\mu e}`$ is equivalent to $`\mathrm{sin}^22\vartheta `$, where $`\vartheta `$ is the two-generation mixing angle used in the analysis of the data of short-baseline $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}`$ experiments). The second equality is due to the unitarity of the mixing matrix. Using the Cauchy–Schwarz inequality we obtain

$$c_ec_\mu A_{\mu e}^{\mathrm{min}}/4\text{and}\left(1c_e\right)\left(1c_\mu \right)A_{\mu e}^{\mathrm{min}}/4,$$
(7)   
where $`A_{\mu e}^{\mathrm{min}}`$ is the minimum value of the oscillation amplitude $`A_{\mu e}`$ observed in the LSND experiment. The bounds (7) are illustrated qualitatively in Figs. III and III. One can see that the results of the LSND experiment confirm the exclusion of the regions SS and LL in Fig. III and the exclusion of the small-$`c_\mu `$ part of region S and of the large-$`c_\mu `$ part of region L in Fig. III.

Summarizing, if $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^20.3\mathrm{eV}^2`$ only the region SL in Fig. III, with

$$c_ea_e^0\text{and}c_\mu 1a_\mu ^0,$$
(8)   
is compatible with the results of all neutrino oscillation experiments. If $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^20.3\mathrm{eV}^2`$ only the large-$`c_\mu `$ part of region S in Fig. III, with

$$c_ea_e^0\text{and}c_\mu b_\mu ^{\mathrm{SK}},$$
(9)   
is compatible with the results of all neutrino oscillation experiments. Therefore, in any case $`c_e`$ is small and $`c_\mu `$ is large. However, it is important to notice that, as shown clearly in Figs. III and III, the inequalities (7) following from the LSND observation of short-baseline $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}`$ oscillations imply that $`c_e`$ and $`1c_\mu `$, albeit small, have the lower bounds

$$c_eA_{\mu e}^{\mathrm{min}}/4\text{and}1c_\mu A_{\mu e}^{\mathrm{min}}/4.$$
(10)   
## IV Long-baseline experiments

The smallness of $`c_e`$ in the schemes A and B implies that electron neutrinos do not oscillate in atmospheric and long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments.

The transition probabilities of electron neutrinos and antineutrinos into other states in long-baseline experiments (LBL) are bounded by 

$$1P_{\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}}^{(\mathrm{LBL})}a_e^0\left(2a_e^0\right).$$
(11)   
The solid line in Fig. IV shows the corresponding limit obtained from the 90% CL exclusion plot of the Bugey experiment. The shadowed region in Fig. IV is allowed if $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2`$ lies in the LSND range (2). The dash-dotted line in Fig. IV shows the upper bound for the transition probability of $`\overline{\nu }_e`$’s into other states obtained from the final 90% exclusion plot of the CHOOZ  experiment for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^23\times 10^3\mathrm{eV}^2`$ (the final 95% exclusion plot of the CHOOZ experiment gives $`P_{\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}}^{(\mathrm{LBL})}0.6`$). One can see that the results of the CHOOZ experiment agree with the upper bound (11), that is more stringent than the CHOOZ bound for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2`$ in the LSND range.

The probability of $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}`$ transitions in vacuum in LBL experiments is limited by 

$$\frac{1}{4}A_{\mu e}^{\mathrm{min}}P_{\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}}^{(\mathrm{LBL})}\mathrm{min}[a_e^0\left(2a_e^0\right),a_e^0+\frac{1}{4}A_{\mu e}^0],$$
(12)   
where $`A_{\mu e}^0`$ is the upper bound for the amplitude $`A_{\mu e}`$ of short-baseline $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}`$ transitions measured in accelerator neutrino experiments and $`A_{\mu e}^{\mathrm{min}}`$ is the minimum value of $`A_{\mu e}`$ observed in the LSND experiment. The bound obtained with Eq. (12) from the 90% CL exclusion plots of the Bugey experiment and of the BNL E776  and KARMEN  experiments is depicted by the dashed line in Fig. IV. The dark shadowed region is allowed by the results of the LSND experiment, taking into account the lower bound in Eq. (12). The solid line in Fig. IV shows the upper bound on $`P_{\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}}^{(\mathrm{LBL})}`$ in the K2K experiment  taking into account matter effects . In this case there is no lower bound and the dark plus light shadowed regions are allowed by the results of the LSND experiment. The expected 90% CL sensitivity of the K2K long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiment for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^23\times 10^3\mathrm{eV}^2`$ is indicated in Fig. IV by the dash-dotted line. It can be seen that the results of short-baseline experiments indicate an upper bound for $`P_{\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}}^{(\mathrm{LBL})}`$ smaller than the expected sensitivity of the K2K experiment, unless $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^20.20.3\mathrm{eV}^2`$.

Let us emphasize that the upper bounds for the oscillation probabilities in long-baseline experiments presented in Figs. IV and IV depend on $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{41}^2`$, that is the mass-squared difference relevant for oscillations in short-baseline experiment. The transition probabilities measured in each long-baseline experiment can be much smaller that the maximal one, that lies below the upper bounds in Figs. IV and IV, if $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{\mathrm{atm}}^2`$ is much smaller than the mass-squared difference to which the experiment is most sensitive.

A further consequence of the smallness of $`c_e`$ and $`1c_\mu `$ in the schemes A and B is the existence of a stringent upper bound for the size of CP or T violation that could be measured in long-baseline experiments in the $`\nu _\mu \nu _e`$ and $`\overline{\nu }_\mu \overline{\nu }_e`$ channels . On the other hand, the effects of CP violation in long-baseline $`\nu _\mu \nu _\tau `$ and $`\overline{\nu }_\mu \overline{\nu }_\tau `$ transitions can be as large as allowed by the unitarity of the mixing matrix .

## V Conclusions

We have seen that only the two four-neutrino schemes A and B of class 2 in Fig. III are compatible with the results of all neutrino oscillation experiments. These two schemes are equivalent for the phenomenology of neutrino oscillations. We have shown that the quantities $`c_e`$ and $`1c_\mu `$ in the schemes A and B are small. Physically $`c_\alpha `$, defined in Eq. (5), quantify the mixing of the flavor neutrino $`\nu _\alpha `$ with the two massive neutrinos whose $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2`$ is relevant for the oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos ($`\nu _1`$, $`\nu _2`$ in scheme A and $`\nu _3`$, $`\nu _4`$ in scheme B). Considering long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, the smallness of of $`c_e`$ implies stringent upper bounds for the probability of $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}`$ transitions into other states, for the probability of $`\stackrel{()}{\nu _\mu }\stackrel{()}{\nu _e}`$ transitions and for the size of CP or T violation effects in $`\nu _\mu \nu _e`$ and $`\overline{\nu }_\mu \overline{\nu }_e`$ transitions.