Maximal Neutrino Mixing from a Minimal Flavor Symmetry

The recent neutrino data converge towards a 3$\nu$ scheme with two large and one small mixing angles. Their implications for model-building are discussed. Some possible components of a flavor symmetry over quarks and leptons are singled out. We suggest that they can be naturally embedded in a unified structure with a replicated gauge group.

This article revisits the validity of tree-level statements regarding the Yukawa sector of various minimal-renormalisable $SU(5)$ frameworks at the loop level. It is well-known that an $SU(5)$ model with only the $45_{\rm{H}}$ dimensional irreducible representation~(irrep) contributing to the Yukawa sector is highly incompatible in yielding the low-energy observables. However, this study shows that when one-loop corrections from heavy degrees of freedom are included in the va...

Atmospheric neutrino data strongly suggests a near-maximal \nu_\mu-\nu_{\tau} mixing and also solar neutrino data can be nicely explained by another near-maximal \nu_e-\nu_{\mu} or \nu_e-\nu_{\tau} mixing. We examine the possibility that this bi-maximal mixing of atmospheric and solar neutrinos arises naturally, while keeping U_{e3} and \Delta m^2_{sol}/\Delta m^2_{atm} small enough, as a consequence of Abelian flavor symmetry. Two simple scenarios of Abelian flavor symmetry ...

We present a quantitative study of the ability of models with different levels of hierarchy to reproduce the solar neutrino solutions, in particular the LA solution. As a flexible testing ground we consider models based on SU(5)xU(1)_F. In this context, we have made statistical simulations of models with different patterns from anarchy to various types of hierachy: normal hierarchical models with and without automatic suppression of the 23 (sub)determinant and inverse hierarc...

In the light of the gathering evidence for $\nu_{\mu}-\nu_{\tau}$ neutrino oscillations, coming in particular from the Super-Kamiokande data on atmospheric neutrinos, we re-analyze the unification of gauge and Yukawa couplings within the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). Guided by a range of different grand-unified models, we stress the relevance of large mixing in the lepton sector for the question of bottom-tau Yukawa coupling unification. We al...

A grand unified model based on SU(5) and supersymmetryis presented to account for the masses and mixing of the neutrinos observed in experiments.

We analyse a supersymmetric string-inspired model of all fermion masses and mixing angles based on the Pati-Salam $SU(4)\times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$ gauge group supplemented by a $U(1)_X$ flavour symmetry. The model involves third family Yukawa unification and predicts the top mass and the ratio of the vacuum expectation values $\tan \beta$. The model also provides a successful description of the CKM matrix and predicts the masses of the down and strange quarks. Howev...

We discuss an extended SU(2)XU(1) model which naturally leads to mass scales and mixing angles relevant for understanding both the solar and atmospheric neutrino anomalies in terms of the vacuum oscillations of the three known neutrinos. The model uses a softly broken L_e-L_{\mu}-L_{\tau} symmetry and contains a heavy scale M_H\sim 10^{15} GeV. The L_e-L_{\mu}-L_{\tau} symmetric neutrino masses solve the atmospheric neutrino anomaly while breaking of L_e-L_{\mu}-L_{\tau} gene...

We propose a simple $U(2)$ model of flavor compatible with an $SU(5)$ GUT structure. All hierarchies in fermion masses and mixings arise from powers of two small parameters that control the $U(2)$ breaking. In contrast to previous $U(2)$ models this setup can be realized without supersymmetry and provides an excellent fit to all SM flavor observables including neutrinos. We also consider a variant of this model based on a $D_6 \times U(1)_F$ flavor symmetry, which closely res...

Recent T2K, MINOS and Double CHOOZ results, together with global fits of mixing parameters, indicate a sizeable reactor angle theta13 ~ 8 deg which, if confirmed, would rule out tri-bimaximal (TB) lepton mixing. Recently two of us studied the vacuum alignment of the Altarelli-Feruglio A4 family symmetry model including additional flavons in the 1' and 1" representations, leading to so-called "trimaximal" neutrino mixing and allowing a potentially large reactor angle. Here we ...