flavor states

Flavor states refer to the specific types of quarks—fundamental particles—that make up particles like neutrinos. Neutrinos are produced in certain reactions with a particular flavor (electron, muon, or tau). However, these flavor states are not fixed; they are quantum mixtures of different underlying states called mass states. As neutrinos travel, their quantum nature causes their flavor to change—a phenomenon known as neutrino oscillation. Essentially, flavor states are the identities we observe, which arise from a combination of fundamental mass states, and their behavior explains how neutrinos can switch between different types during their journey.