We present a supersymmetric model of quark and lepton based on $S_4\times Z_3\times Z_4$ flavor symmetry. The $S_4$ symmetry is broken down to Klein four and $Z_3$ subgroups in the neutrino and the charged lepton sectors respectively. Tri-Bimaximal mixing and the charged lepton mass hierarchies are reproduced simultaneously at leading order. Moreover, a realistic pattern of quark masses and mixing angles is generated with the exception of the mixing angle between the first two generations, which requires a small accidental enhancement. It is remarkable that the mass hierarchies are controlled by the spontaneous breaking of flavor symmetry in our model. The next to leading order contributions are studied, all the fermion masses and mixing angles receive corrections of relative order $λ^2_c$ with respect to the leading order results. The phenomenological consequences of the model are analyzed, the neutrino mass spectrum can be normal hierarchy or inverted hierarchy, and the combined measurement of the $0\nu2β$ decay effective mass $m_{ββ}$ and the lightest neutrino mass can distinguish the normal hierarchy from the inverted hierarchy.
In analogy to the mixing pattern of the pseudoscalar mesons in QCD we discuss the mixing of massive neutrinos. Unlike the quarks flavor mixing angles the leptonic mixing angles are large, nearly maximal. The three massive neutrinos are nearly degenerate.
Flavor mixing and the quark mass spectrum are intimately related. In view of the observed strong hierarchy of the quark and lepton masses and of the flavor mixing angles it is argued that the description of flavor mixing must take this into account. One particular interesting way to describe the flavor mixing emerges, which is particularly suited for models of quark mass matrices based on flavor symmetries. We conclude that the unitarity triangle important for $B$ physics should be close to or identical to a rectangular triangle. $CP$ violation is maximal in this sense.
This dissertation investigates the flavor mixing effects in supersymmetric models on electroweak precision observables, Higgs boson mass predictions, B-physics observables, quark flavor violating Higgs decays, lepton flavor violating charged lepton decays and lepton flavor violating Higgs decays. The flavor mixing effects are studied in model independent way i.e. by putting off-diagonal entries in the sfermion mass matrix by hand as well as in the minimal flavor violating constrained MSSM, where mixing can originate from CKM matrix in the case of squarks and from PMNS matrix in the case of sle…
Recent atmospheric neutrino data at Super-Kamiokande suggest the large flavor mixing of neutrinos. Models for the lepton mass matrix, which give the near-maximal flavor mixing, are discussed in the three family model. Especially, details of the models with the $S_3$ or O(3) flavor symmetry are studied.
An origin of flavor mixings in quark and lepton sectors is still a mystery, and a structure of the flavor mixings in lepton sector seems completely different from that of quark sector. In this letter, we point out that the flavor mixing angles in quark and lepton sectors could be unified at a high energy scale, when neutrinos are degenerate. It means that a minimal flavor violation at a high energy scale can induce a rich variety of flavor mixings in quark and lepton sectors at a low energy scale through quantum corrections.
Recent atmospheric neutrino data at Super-Kamiokande suggest the near-maximal flavor mixing. Models for the lepton mass matrix, which give the near-maximal flavor mixing, are discussed in this report. Mass matrix models are classified according to the mechanism providing the large flavor mixing, and those are reviewed briefly. "Naturalness" of the mass matrix is also discussed in order to select the neutrino mass matrix. Details of the mass matrix with the $S_3$ flavor symmetry are presented.
In view of the observed strong hierarchy of the quark and lepton masses and of the flavor mixing angles it is argued that the description of flavor mixing must take this into account. One particular interesting way to describe the flavor mixing, which, however, is not the one used today, emerges, which is best suited for models of quark mass matrices based on flavor symmetries. We conclude that the unitarity triangle important for $B$ physics should be close to or identical to a rectangular triangle. CP violation is maximal in this sense.
The phenomenology of flavor mixing of heavy Majorana neutrinos is studied. The physical degrees of freedom, which propagate like free particles until they decay in the presence of flavor mixing, are identified by diagonalizing the resummed propagator. It is shown that they should be interpreted as quasiparticles which lose Majorana nature.
It is shown that the hierarchical structure of the quark mass terms in the standard model suggests a new description of the flavor mixing. The latter is primarily a heavy quark mixing involving the t and b quarks, followed by a mixing exclusively in the u-channel or the d-channel. The complex phase describing CP violation arises only in the light quark sector. The Cabibbo angle is not a basic parameter, but results as a superposition of both the u-channel and d-channel mixing terms. The new description has a number of significant advantages in comparison with all descriptions previously used. …
We carry out a systematic analysis of flavor mixing and CP violation in the conceptually interesting limit where two quarks or leptons of the same charge are degenerate in mass. We pay some particular attention to the impact of neutrino mass degeneracy and Majorana phase degeneracy on the lepton flavor mixing matrix.
In view of the observed strong hierarchy of the quark and lepton masses and of the flavor mixing angles, it is argued that the description of flavor mixing must take this into account. One particularly interesting way to describe the flavor mixing, which, however, is not the one used today, emerges, which is particularly suited for models of quark mass matrices based on flavor symmetries. We conclude that the unitarity triangle important for B physics should be close to or identical to a rectangular triangle. CP violation is maximal in this sense.
We consider the effects of Planck scale on four flavour neutrino mixings. The gravational interaction at $M_{x}=M_{\rm planck}$, we find that for degenerate neurino mass order, the Planck scale effects changes the mixing angle $θ'_{23}$, $θ'_{12}$ values and $θ'_{13}$, $θ'_{14}$, $θ'_{34}$, $θ'_{24}$ are unchanged above the GUT scale. In this paper, we study neutrino mixing in four flavor above the GUT scale.
The mixing between third and second (or first) generation squarks is very small in supersymmetric models with minimal flavor violation such as gauge-, anomaly- or gaugino-mediation. An opportunity to measure this mixing will arise if the lightest stop is close enough in mass to the lightest neutralino, so that the decays into third generation quarks are kinematically forbidden. We analyze under which circumstances it might become possible to measure at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) the rate of the flavor changing stop decays.
There are experimental indications of large flavor mixing between $ν_{μ}$ and $ν_τ$. In the unification models, in which the massless sector includes extra particles beyond the standard model, there possibly appear the mixings between quarks (leptons) and the extra particles. When large mixings occur, lepton flavor mixings can be quite different from quark flavor mixings. By taking the string inspired $SU(6) \times SU(2)_R$ model with global flavor symmetries, we obtain the neutrino flavor mixing $\sin θ_{23} \simeq λ= \sin θ_C$ around the unification scale. It can be expected that due to larg…
New physics at high energy scale often contributes to K-\bar K and D-\bar D mixings in an approximately SU(2)_L invariant way. In such a case, the combination of measurements in these two systems is particularly powerful. The resulting constraints can be expressed in terms of misalignments and flavor splittings.
The fact that quarks of the same electric charge possess a mass hierarchy is a big puzzle in particle physics, and it must be highly correlated with the hierarchy of quark flavor mixing. This review article is intended to provide a brief description of some important issues regarding quark masses, flavor mixing and CP violation. A comparison between the salient features of quark and lepton flavor mixing structures is also made.
The three-flavor mixing matrix can be parameterized by the rephasing invariants Gamma_{ijk} = V_{1i} V_{2j} V_{3k}. This formulation brings out the inherent symmetry of the problem and has some appealing features. Examples illustrating the parametrization and applications to quark mixing are presented.
The renormalization of theories with flavor mixing is discussed, and it is shown that the physical unstable particles should be interpreted as quasiparticles which cannot be regarded as external states. Several popular beliefs on renormalization are disproved accordingly, and the limitations of physical renormalization schemes are discussed. In addition, the properties of unstable particles with flavor mixing such as decay widths are studied from scattering mediated by them.
Neutrino flavor mixing is discussed in terms of two-component coupled left-handed flavor fields. This is to take into account the fact that the weak interaction couples only to left-handed fields. The flavor fields are written through a rotation matrix, as a linear combination of left-handed free fields. In order to obtain properly normalized wave functions directly from those free fields, states of mixed helicity have to be considered. Neutrino flavor oscillation amplitudes are also derived.
We discuss potential to measure squark flavor mixings based on future data at super B factory and LHC. In particular we focus on the imaginary part of the mixings by investigating the CP violating observables. As a result, we find they are determined with the uncertainty about 10 % at best.
We compare the effectiveness of various tests of three-flavor mixing in future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. We analyze a representative case of mixing in a simplified three-flavor scheme, whose relevant parameters are one neutrino mass-square difference, $m^2$, and two mixing angles, $ψ$ and $ϕ$. We show that an unambiguous determination of $ψ$ and $ϕ$ requires flavor-appearance tests in accelerator experiments, as well as supplementary information from reactor experiments.
This study indicates that in E6 grand unified theories (GUTs), once a hierarchical structure of up-quark-type Yukawa couplings is given as a basic structure of flavor, larger lepton mixings than the quark mixings and milder down-quark-type (and charged-lepton-type) mass hierarchies than up-quark-type mass hierarchy can generically be obtained under a few natural assumptions. The basic flavor structure is compatible with non-Abelian horizontal symmetry, which can solve the SUSY flavor problem. It is shown that in solving the SUSY flavor problem, the E6 structure, which realizes bi-large neutrin…
A new framework for handling flavor symmetry breaking in the neutrino sector is discussed where the source of symmetry breaking is traced to the global property of right-handed neutrinos in extra-dimensional space. Light neutrino phenomenology has rich and robust predictions such as the tri/bi-maximal form of generation mixing, controlled mass spectrum, and no need of flavor mixing couplings in the theory.
In this paper, we suggest a simple model which induces realistic flavor structure from mixing of flavored Higgs doublets. The idea is based on the decoupling limit. In a model with many Higgs doublets, the mass eigenstates of scalars are linear combinations of Higgs doublets. If the mass matrix of Higgs fields has only one massless mode, and if the linear combination has flavor dependence, the induced Yukawa coupling will have nontrivial flavor structure. We suggest a mass matrix of flavored Higgs fields in a $U(2)_{L} \times U(2)_{R}$ toy model. An advantage of this model is that all of the e…
We explore the phenomenological implications on charged lepton flavor violating (LFV) processes from slepton flavor mixing within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We work under the model-independent hypothesis of general flavor mixing in the slepton sector, being parametrized by a complete set of dimensionless delta^AB_ij (A,B = L,R; i,j = 1, 2, 3) parameters. The present upper bounds on the most relevant LFV processes, together with the requirement of compatibility in the choice of the MSSM parameters with the recent LHC and (g-2) data, lead to updated constraints on all slepton fla…
We address two fundamental aspects of flavor physics: the mass hierarchy and the large lepton mixing angles. On one side, left-right flavor symmetry realizes the democratic mass matrix patterns and explains why one family is much heavier than the others. On the other side, discrete flavor symmetry such as A4 leads to the observed tribimaximal mixing for the leptons. We show that, by explicitly breaking the left-right flavor symmetry into the diagonal A4, it is possible to explain both the observed charged fermion mass hierarchies and quark and lepton mixing angles. In particular we predict a h…
We review the application of non abelian discrete groups to the theory of neutrino masses and mixing, which is strongly suggested by the agreement of the Tri-Bimaximal mixing pattern with experiment. After summarizing the motivation and the formalism, we discuss specific models, based on A4, S4 and other finite groups, and their phenomenological implications, including lepton flavor violating processes, leptogenesis and the extension to quarks. In alternative to Tri-Bimaximal mixing the application of discrete flavor symmetries to quark-lepton complementarity and Bimaximal Mixing is also consi…
We clarify the domain needed for the mixing angles in three flavor neutrino oscillations. By comparing the ranges of the transition probabilities as functions of the domains of the mixing angles, we show that it is necessary and sufficient to let all mixing angles be in $[ 0, π/2 ]$. This holds irrespectively of any assumptions on the neutrino mass squared differences.
Large mixing parameters of neutrino mass eigenstates in the neutrino flavor eigenstates are determined, and interpreted as closely related to the neutrino and charged lepton mass-ratio patterns. The three known seemingly different charged lepton and quasi-degenerate neutrino deviation-from-extreme hierarchies are shown to be three particular manifestations of one unifying quadratic hierarchy-rule in lepton flavor physics.
We consider the problem of time-to-space conversion in quantum field theory of flavor mixing using a generalization of the wave-packet method in quantum mechanics. We work entirely within the canonical formalism of creation and annihilation operators that allows us, unlike the usual wave-packet formulation, to include the nontrivial effect due to flavor condensation in the vacuum.
My talk is concentrating on the quantum effects on neutrino mass and lepton flavor mixing matrices in the framework of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with the effective dimension-five operator which gives the Majorana masses of neutrinos.
We explore the phenomenological implications on non-minimal flavor violating (NMFV) processes from squark flavor mixing within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We work under the model-independent hypothesis of general flavor mixing in the squark sector, being parametrized by a complete set of dimensionless delta^AB_ij (A,B = L, R; i,j = u, c, t or d, s, b) parameters. The present upper bounds on the most relevant NMFV processes, together with the requirement of compatibility in the choice of the MSSM parameters with the recent LHC and g-2 data, lead to updated constraints on all squa…
To search for possible textures of lepton mass matrices, we systematically examine flavor mixing structures which can lead to large lepton mixing angles. We find out 37 mixing patterns are consistent with experimental data, taking into account phase factors in the mixing matrices. Only six of the patterns can explain the observed data without any tuning of parameters, while the others need particular choices for the phase values. It is found that these six mixing patterns are those predicted by the models which have been proposed to account for fermion mass hierarchies. On the other hand, the …
The $μν$SSM, one of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, introduces three right-handed neutrino superfields to solve the $μ$ problem and violates lepton number. Within framwork of the $μν$SSM, we investigate the lepton flavor violating (LFV) processes $Z\rightarrow l_i^\pm l_j^\mp$ with slepton flavor mixing. Simultaneously, we consider the LFV processes $l_j^-\rightarrow l_i^-γ$, $l_j^- \rightarrow l_i^- l_i^- l_i^+$ and muon conversion to electron in nuclei.
We address the problem of rationalizing the pattern of fermion masses and mixings by adding a nonabelian flavor symmetry in a grand unified framework. With this purpose, we include an A4 flavor symmetry into a unified renormalizable SUSY GUT SU(5) model. With the help of the "Type II Seesaw" mechanism we are able to obtain the pattern of observed neutrino mixings in a natural way, through the so called tribimaximal matrix.
Neutrino flavor mixing is explained within the recently proposed low-scale minimal linear seesaw model of neutrino mass generation, a variant of the standard linear seesaw led by a Dirac pair of extra sterile neutrinos which is odd under a discrete $Z_2$ symmetry and has a mass at or below the GeV scale. The tri-bimaximal mixing and its deviations are derived straightforwardly on the basis of the symmetry between $μ$ and $τ$ flavors, without introducing non-abelian discrete flavor symmetries in the first place.
We propose a SUSY scenario to explain the current electron and muon $g-2$ discrepancies without introducing lepton flavor mixings. Threshold corrections to the Yukawa couplings can enhance the electron $g-2$ and flip the sign of the SUSY contributions. The mechanism predicts a flavor-dependent slepton mass spectrum. We show that it is compatible with the Higgs mediation scenario.
The structure of an effective light-cone Hamiltonian as recently derived is analyzed with emphasis on its prediction for flavor mixing in physical mesons. In a (perhaps over-simplified) model with one adjustable parameter, the empirical masses of all 25 pseudo-scalar mesons which are possible for 5 flavors are reproduced (almost) quantitatively. These results are coupled with explicit numerical estimates of flavor mixing. In the present approach, the well-known mass degeneracy of the pion triplet is caused by the mass degeneracy of the up and down quark.
A neutrino mass dominance quantity is introduced for tagging the neutrino flavor in the phenomenological two-parameter four neutrino mixing matrix with two neutrino mass doublets and thorough maximal neutrino doublet mixing. While there is no hierarchy of the neutrino masses in the neutrino flavor eigenstates of this model, it may rather be a special hierarchy of the mass dominance ratios in these eigenstates. A neutrino flavor hierarchy condition is suggested: a direct link between the neutrino flavor and the flavor of the charged leptons which interconnects the two mixing angles, theta and p…
Group theoretical arguments seem to indicate the discrete symmetry S4 as the minimal flavour symmetry compatible with tribimaximal neutrino mixing. We prove in a model independent way that indeed S4 can realize exact tribimaximal mixing through different symmetry breaking patterns. We present two models in which lepton tribimaximal mixing is realized in different ways and for each one we discuss the superpotential that leads to the correct breaking of the flavor symmetry.
We demonstrate that sizable neutrino flavor oscillations can be generated in a model with large extra spacetime dimensions even if the physics on the brane is flavor-diagonal, the bulk neutrino theory is flavor-neutral, and the brane/bulk couplings are flavor-blind. This is thus a compact model for addressing neutrino flavor oscillations in higher dimensions. We also discuss several phenomenological aspects of the ``bulk-mediated'' neutrino oscillations inherent in this model, and show that this model contains some potentially important new phenomenological features in the limit of large brane…
The impact of possible sources of lepton-flavor mixing on $K \to πν\barν$ decays is analysed. At the one-loop level lepton-flavor mixing originated from non-diagonal lepton mass matrices cannot generate a CP-conserving $K_L \to π^0ν\barν$ amplitude. The rates of these modes are sensitive to leptonic flavor violation when there are at least two different leptonic mixing matrices. New interactions that violate both quark and lepton universalities could enhance the CP-conserving component of $Γ(K_L \to π^0ν\barν)$ and have a substantial impact. Explicit examples of these effects in the context of…
Recently, it was pointed out that the solar and atmospheric neutrino deficits can be explained by oscillations between electroweak doublet and singlet neutrinos in the model of Majorana neutrinos. However, since the model includes no flavor mixing, it cannot explain the recent LSND result. We extend the model to include the flavor mixing, and obtain the explanation of the LSND result together with the solar and atmospheric neutrino deficits. The requirement for the neutrinos to be the hot dark matter selects out only the vacuum oscillation solution to the solar neutrino deficit.
The kinematic edges of invariant mass distributions provide an important tool for the possible measurements of superpartner masses in supersymmetric models with a neutralino LSP. We examine the effect of lepton flavor dependence on the kinematic endpoints of the di-lepton invariant mass distribution, with the leptons being electrons and muons. In the presence of slepton mass splitting and mixing, each of these distributions exhibits multiple edges, which are likely to be close. Furthermore, flavor subtraction, which is usually employed to eliminate backgrounds, dilutes the signal. We propose t…
It is proposed that light neutrinos form a triplet in a global SU(3) flavor symmetry. Within this framework, a symmetry principle predicts sin^2 theta_{23}=0.5 and gives the so called inverted neutrino mass hierarchy, theta _{13}=0 and a small deviation from pi/4 for theta_{12}.
Aspects of the quark mixings and flavor changing interactions are investigated in electroweak models with singlet quarks. The effects on the ordinary quark mixing are determined in terms of the quark masses and the parameters describing the mixing between the ordinary quarks q and the singlet quarks Q (q-Q mixing). Some salient features arise in the flavor changing interactions through the q-Q mixing. The unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix within the ordinary quark sector is violated, and the flavor changing neutral currents (FCNC's) appear both in the gauge and scalar cou…
We have studied the lepton and quark mixing patterns which can be derived from the dihedral group $D_n$ in combination with CP symmetry. The left-handed lepton and quark doublets are assigned to the direct sum of a singlet and a doublet of $D_n$. A unified description of the observed structure of the quark and lepton mixing can be achieved if the flavor group $D_n$ and CP are broken to $Z_2\times CP$ in neutrino, charged lepton, up quark and down quark sectors, and the minimal group is $D_{14}$. We also consider another scenario in which the residual symmetry of the charged lepton and up quark…
The $D_4$ flavor model based on $\mathrm{SU}(3)_C \otimes \mathrm{SU}(3)_L \otimes \mathrm{U}(1)_X$ gauge symmetry that aims at describing quark mass and mixing is updated. After spontaneous breaking of flavor symmetry, with the constraint on the Higgs vacuum expectation values (VEVs) in the Yukawa couplings, all of quarks have consistent masses, and a realistic quark mixing matrix can be realized at the first order of perturbation theory.
We determine the widths of three-body decays of sleptons, $\tilde{l}^- \to \tilde{l}^{\pm} l^- l^{\mp}, \tilde{l}^- ν\barν, \tilde{l}^- q \bar{q}$, in the presence of arbitrary slepton flavor violation and left-right mixing. These decays are important in scenarios in which the lightest supersymmetric particle is the gravitino, a generic possibility in models with gauge- and gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Three-body decays have been discussed previously assuming flavor conservation and left-right mixing in only the stau sector. Flavor violation and general left-right mixing open up ma…
In the recent years neutrino experiments have studied in detail the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations and most of the oscillation parameters have been measured with a good accuracy. However, in spite of many interesting ideas, the problem of flavor in the lepton sector remains an open issue. In this review, we discuss the state of the art of models for neutrino masses and mixings formulated in the context of flavor symmetries, with particular emphasis on the role played by grand unified gauge groups.
I summarize the results of barely model-dependent phenomenological analyses of the structure of the neutrino flavor mixing. The analyses are based on the three-flavor mixing framework without sterile neutrinos and utilize the hints from solar and atmospheric neutrino observations as well as that from mixed dark matter cosmology. It will be demonstrated that the features of the analysis is sharply distinguished by the two cases (I) with and (II) without dark matter mass scale, and by whether one (or two) mass is dominant (OMD) or the three states are almost degenerate (ADN). The global features…
If the hierarchy of quark masses comes out of simultaneous dynamical chiral and flavor symmetry breakings, it is inevitably accompanied by the flavor mixing. Therefore, these phenomena, independent in the standard model and in many of its generalizations, become related since they appear out of the same dynamics. The features of that high energy dynamics may be investigated via accordance with observed mass hierarchy and mixing.
A simple breaking of the subnuclear democracy of the quarks leads to a mixing between the second and the third family, in agrement with observation. Introducing the mixing between the first and the second family, one finds an interesting pattern of maximal CP--violation as well as a complete determination of the elements of the CKM matrix and of the unitarity triangle.
A simple and model-independent method is proposed to extract information on solar $ν_e$ transition into antineutrinos via the spin flavor precession (SFP) from the measurements of solar neutrino flux at SNO and Super-Kamiokande. Incorporating the KamLAND experimental results, we examine how large the suppression of the solar neutrino flux could be due to the SFP mechanism in the context of the hybrid scenario with two-flavor neutrino and antineutrino mixings.
