8 pages. To appear in the proceedings of the Prospects in Neutrino Physics Conference, 15 -- 17 December, 2014, held at Queen Mary University of London, UK
Flavour symmetries are fundamental tools in the search for an explanation to the flavour puzzle: fermion mass hierarchies, the neutrino mass ordering, the differences between the mixing matrices in the quark and lepton sector, can all find an explanation in models where the fermion generations undergo specific geometric relations. An overview on the implementation of continuous symmetries in the flavour sector is presented here, focussing on the lepton sector.
In this review article, we highlight the impact of models incorporating flavour symmetries on charged lepton flavour violating (LFV) processes. Flavour symmetries provide a natural approach to explain the peculiar mass hierarchies and mixing patterns of the Standard Model fermions. New sources of LFV are generally present in new physics beyond the Standard Model, and flavour symmetries can make distinctive predictions for LFV observables. Their discovery can provide crucial information to distinguish flavour symmetries and new physics scenarios in general. Because of their high sensitivity, we…
We propose the new mechanism of neutrino flavour relaxation to explain the experimentally observed changes of initial neutrino flavour fluxes. The test of neutrino relaxation hypothesis is presented, using the data of modern reactor, solar and accelerator experiments. The final choice between the standard neutrino oscillations and the proposed neutrino flavour relaxation model can be done in future experiments.
We consider a four flavour scenario for the neutrinos where an extra sterile neutrino is introduced with the three families of active neutrinos and study the deviation from three flavour scenario in the ultra high energy (UHE) regime. We calculate the possible muon and shower yields at a 1 Km$^2$ detector such as ICECUBE for these neutrinos from distant UHE sources namely Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) etc. Similar estimations for muon and shower yields are also obtained for three flavour case. Comparing the two results we find considerable differences of the yields for these two cases. This can be u…
Based on flavour symmetries only, there are two ways to give rise to an effective description of flavour physics in the quark sector close to the CKM picture: one is based on $U(3)_q\times U(3)_u\times U(3)_d$ (or equivalent) and the other on $U(2)_q\times U(2)_u\times U(2)_d$ (or equivalent). In this context we analyze the current status of flavour physics measurements and we compare their impact, in the specific case of supersymmetry, with the direct searches of new particles at the LHC, present or foreseen.
If neutrinos are massive, `lepton flavour eigenstates' are absent from the amplitudes of all Standard Model processes. Measurements of $Γ(π\to e ν)/Γ(π\to μν)$ and of the MNS matrix are shown to exclude the existence of such states. Incoherent production of neutrinos of different flavour modifies the usual oscillation phase derived assuming production of a lepton flavour eigenstate. The new prediction can be tested in long line-base experiments by comparison of `$ν_μ$ disappearance' of neutrinos from pion and kaon decay.
We re-examine the constraints on continuous family symmetries coming from flavour changing neutral current limits on the D-term contributions to squark and slepton masses. We show that, for a restricted choice of the familon sector, continuous family symmetries are consistent with even the most conservative limits both for the case of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking and the case of gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking.
We study the approximate flavour symmetries imposed on the lepton sector assuming see-saw mechanism as the neutrino mass structure. We apply the symmetry to various neutrino phenomenologies and obtain constraints on neutrino masses and mixings.
We consider a class of discrete flavour symmetries for leptons based on the group S(3) and A(4) with an hybrid breaking pattern. The aim is to construct models in which the same flavon fields producing the mixing pattern are also responsible for the mass hierarchy.
We consider the supersymmetric seesaw mechanism induced by the exchange of heavy SU(2)_W triplet states, rather than `right-handed' neutrino singlets, to generate neutrino masses. We show that in this scenario the neutrino flavour structure tested at low-energy in the atmospheric and solar neutrino experiments is directly inherited from the neutrino Yukawa couplings to the triplets. This allows us to predict the ratio of the tau --> mu gamma (or tau --> e gamma) and mu --> e gamma decay rates in terms of the low-energy neutrino parameters. Moreover, once the model is embedded in a grand unifie…
We further develop a recently proposed new approach to the description of the relativistic neutrino flavour $ν_e^L \leftrightarrow ν_μ^L$, spin $ν_e^L \leftrightarrow ν_{e}^R$ and spin-flavour $ν_e^L \leftrightarrow ν_μ^R$ oscillations in a constant magnetic field that is based on the use of the exact neutrino stationary states in the magnetic field. The neutrino flavour, spin and spin-flavour oscillations probabilities are calculated accounting for the whole set of possible conversions between four neutrino states. In general, the obtained expressions for the neutrino oscillations probabiliti…
The so-called supersymmetric flavour problem does not exist in isolation to the Standard Model flavour problem. We show that a realistic flavour symmetry can simultaneously solve both problems without ad hoc modifications of the SUSY model. Furthermore, departures from the SM expectations in these models can be used to discriminate among different possibilities. In particular we present the expected values for the electron EDM in a flavour model solving the supersymmetric flavour and CP problems.
We demonstrate the usefulness of flavour neutrino masses expressed in terms of $M_{ee},M_{eμ}$ and $M_{eτ}$. The analytical expressions for the flavour neutrino masses, mass eigenstates and physical CP-violating Majorana phases for texture two zeros are obtained exactly.
We propose a theory of flavour based on abelian horizontal gauge symmetries and modular invariances. We construct explicit supergravity models where the scale of the horizontal $U(1)$ symmetry breaking is fixed by the Green-Schwarz mechanism for anomaly cancellation. The supersymmetric spectrum is obtained in terms of the $U(1)$ charges which are determined by the Yukawa matrices.
Studies of an interesting effect of neutrino spin and spin-flavour oscillations engenders by neutrino weak interactions with the transversally moving or polarized matter are reviewed.
We provide a general classification of flavour symmetries according to their interplay with the proper Poincare' and gauge groups and to their linear or nonlinear action in field space. We focus on the lepton sector and we review the different types of symmetries describing neutrino masses and the lepton mixing matrix. For each type of symmetry we present several illustrative examples and we discuss specific strengths and limitations.
We propose a Standard Model extension with underlying A4 flavour symmetry where small Dirac neutrino masses arise from a Type-II seesaw mechanism. The model predicts the "golden" flavour-dependent bottom-tau mass relation, requires an inverted neutrino mass ordering and non-maximal atmospheric mixing angle. Using the latest neutrino oscillation global fit we derive restrictions on the oscillation parameters, such as a correlation between Dirac CP phase and the lightest neutrino mass.
Both discrete flavour symmetries and Grand Unified symmetries explain apparent structures in the mass sector of the Standard Model. A model that combines both symmetries is therefore very appealing. We construct a model with the $S_4$ flavour symmetry and the Pati-Salam unification. We show that this model can indeed explain many observable relations between the masses of the quarks and leptons and that it is predictive in the neutrino sector. However, the combination of the two symmetries leads to new complications in the Higgs sector and in the running of the renormalisation group equations.
The classification of lepton mixing matrices from finite residual symmetries is reviewed, with emphasis on the role of vanishing sums of roots of unity for the solution of this problem.
The definition of `lepton flavour eigenstates' introduced in a recent paper hep-ph/0302045 is in disagreement with the Standard Model prediction for the structure of the leptonic charged current and implies the absence of neutrino oscillations following pion decay, in contradiction to experimental data
We demonstrate that an $SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$ model with extended Higgs sector gives rise to bi-maximal neutrino mixing through the incorporation of SO(3) flavour symmetry and discrete symmetry. The neutrino and the charged lepton masses are generated due to higher dimensional terms. The hierarchical structures of neutrinos and charged leptons are obtained due to inclusion of SO(3) flavour symmetry and discrete symmetry.The model can accommodate the vacuum oscillation solution of solar neutrino problem, through reasonable choice of model parameters along with the atmospheric neutrino experimen…
We discuss the tension between discrete flavour symmetries and extended scalar sectors arising from lepton flavour violation experiments. The key point is that extended scalar sectors will generically lead to flavour changing neutral currents, which are strongly constrained by experiments. Due to the large parameter space in the scalar sector such models will, however, usually have no big problems with existing and future bounds (even though the models might be constrained). This changes considerably once a flavour symmetry is imposed in addition: Due to the symmetry, additional relations betw…
We study the effect of non-vanishing masses and mixings among neutrino flavours on the detection of neutrinos from stellar collapse by a water Cerenkov detector. We consider a frame-work in which there are four neutrino flavours, including a sterile neutrino, whose mass squared differences and mixings are constrained by the present understanding of solar, atmospheric and laboratory neutrino detection. We also include the effects of high density matter within the supernova core. Unlike in the three flavour scenario, we find that the number of events due to the dominant process involving electro…
The interplay between flavour symmetries connecting Bs-->KK decays with the recently measured Bd--> K0 anti-K0 decay and QCD Factorisation opens new strategies to describe the decays Bs--> K0 anti-K0 and Bs--> K+ K- in the SM and in supersymmetry. A new relation, emerging from the sum-rule for the Bs--> K0 anti-K0 decay mode, is presented offering a new way to determine the weak mixing angle phi_s of the Bs system.
The measurement of the charged-current 8B solar neutrino reaction on deuterium at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory confirms the neutrino oscillation hypothesis for the solar neutrino problem, and the result favours the solution with large neutrino mixing angles. We demonstrate that the current neutrino oscillation data (including atmospheric and reactor neutrinos) are sufficient to construct the lepton flavour mixing matrix with a reasonable accuracy. We also infer the maximum size of CP violation effects consistent with the current neutrino oscillation experiments.
A simple model of the neutrino mixing is considered, which contains only one right-handed neutrino field, coupled via the mass term to the three usual left-handed fields. This is a simplest model that allows for three-flavour neutrino oscillations. The existing experimental limits on the neutrino oscillations are used to obtain constraints on the two free mixing parameters of the model. A specific sum rule relating the oscillation probabilities of different flavours is derived.
We look for predictive flavour patterns of the effective Majorana neutrino mass matrix that are compatible with current neutrino oscillation data. Our search is based on the assumption that the neutrino mass matrix contains equal elements and a minimal number of parameters, in the flavour basis where the charged lepton mass matrix is diagonal and real. Three unique patterns that can successfully explain neutrino observables at the $3σ$ confidence level with just three physical parameters are presented. Neutrino textures described by four and five parameters are also studied. The predictions fo…
We discuss charged lepton flavour violating processes such as mu -> e gamma in supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model and in models with gauge-Higgs unification and a warped extra dimension. In both classes of models the processes turn out to be compatible with present experimental bounds, but can be detected by future experiments, thanks to the presence of a flavour symmetry G_f which constrains the form of the relevant couplings. The symmetry G_f is chosen to be finite, discrete and non-abelian and also helps to predict the peculiar lepton mixing pattern.
When the neutrino density is very high, as in core-collapse supernovae, neutrino-neutrino interactions are not negligible and can appreciably affect the evolution of flavour. The physics of these phenomena is briefly highlighted, and their effects are shown on observable energy spectra from a future galactic supernova within two-neutrino and three-neutrino frameworks. Detection of such effects could provide a handle on two unknowns: the neutrino mass hierarchy, and the mixing angle theta(13).
In view of the fact that the data on neutrino mixing are still compatible with a situation where Bimaximal mixing is valid in first approximation and it is then corrected by terms of order of the Cabibbo angle, we present examples where these properties are naturally realized. The models are supersymmetric in 4-dimensions and based on the discrete non-Abelian flavour symmetry S4.
Here we propose an $A_4$ flavour symmetry model which implies a lower bound on the neutrinoless double beta decay rate, corresponding to an effective mass parameter $M_{ee} \gsim 0.03$ eV, and a direct correlation between the expected magnitude of CP violation in neutrino oscillations and the value of $\sin^2θ_{13}$, as well as a nearly maximal CP phase $δ$.
After a brief history of two known types of neutrino mixing and oscillations, including neutrino spin and spin-flavour oscillations in the transversal magnetic field, we perform systematic study of a new phenomenon of neutrino spin and spin-flavour oscillations engendered by the transversal matter currents on the bases of the developed quantum treatment of the phenomenon. Possibilities for the resonance amplification of these new types of oscillations by the longitudinal matter currents and longitudinal magnetic fields are analyzed. Neutrino spin-flavour oscillations engendered by the transver…
We present a new mechanism to explain naturally and through a common flavour symmetry the mildly hierarchical neutrino masses with large mixings and the hierarchical Yukawa matrices with small mixing angles. Although this mechanism is not linked to a particular flavour symmertry, it is particularly simple in the framework of a SU(3) flavour symmetry. In this model, we obtain exactly maximal atmospheric mixing, large although not maximal solar mixing and a normal neutrino hierarchy. All neutrino parameters are basically fixed. For instance, we predict that the angle $θ_{13}$ comes entirely from…
If weak equivalence principle is violated then different types of neutrinos would couple differently with gravity and that may produce a gravity induced oscillation for the neutrinos of different flavour. We explore here the possibility that very small violation of the principle of weak equivalence (VEP) can be probed by ultra high energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources. The very long baseline length and the ultra high energies of such neutrinos could be helpful to probe very small VEP. We consider a 4-flavour neutrino scenario (3 active + 1 sterile) with both mass-flavour and gra…
If observed, charged lepton flavour violation is a clear sign of new physics - beyond the Standard Model minimally extended to accommodate neutrino oscillation data. After a brief review of several charged lepton flavour violation observables and their current experimental status, we consider distinct extensions of the Standard Model which could potentially give rise to observable signals, focusing on the case of models in which the mechanism of neutrino mass generation is the common source of neutral and charged lepton flavour violation.
We establish the full list of flavour symmetry groups which may be enforced, without producing any further accidental symmetry, on the Yukawa-coupling matrices of an SO(10) Grand Unified Theory with arbitrary numbers of scalar multiplets in the 10, $\overline{126}$, and 120 representations of SO(10). For each of the possible discrete non-Abelian symmetry groups, we present examples of minimal models which do not run into obvious contradiction with the phenomenological fermion masses and mixings.
The impact of rare lepton decays ($μ\to e γ$, $τ\to μγ$, >...) and rare $B$ and $K$ decays ($B\to \ell^+\ell^-$, $B\to \ellν$, $K\to πνν$, $K\to\ellν$, ...) in probing the existence of an underlying flavour symmetry is reviewd. Particualar emphasis is deveoted to the connections between quark and lepton flavour strucutres, in the context of generic effective field theory approach to physics beyond the SM.
We consider a new approach to fermion masses and mixings in which no special "horizontal" dynamics is invoked to account for the hierarchical pattern of charged fermion masses and for the peculiar features of neutrino masses. The hierarchy follows from the vertical, family-independent structure of the model, in particular from the breaking pattern of the Pati-Salam group. The lightness of the first two fermion families can be related to two family symmetries emerging in this context as accidental symmetries.
It is pointed out that important contribution to neutrino masses and mixing can come from flavour violating slepton exchange. For low and intermediate $\tanβ$ such effects can dominate over the usual tau Yukawa coupling effects included in the renormalization group evolution. The mixing angles satisfy then the relation different from the fixed point solution of the renormalization group equation, and the desired neutrino mass splitting can be generated.
Charged lepton flavour violation is reappraised in the context of supersymmetric see-saw mechanism. It is pointed out that a non-trivial flavour structure of right-handed neutrinos, whose effect has been thus far less studied, can give rise to significant slepton flavour transitions. Under the premise that the neutrino Yukawa couplings are of O(1), the right-handed neutrino mixing contribution could form a basis of the $μ\rightarrow e γ$ amplitude which by itself might lead to an experimentally accessible rate, given a typical low-energy sparticle spectrum. Emphasis is placed on the crucial ro…
The use of extra space-time dimensions provides a promising approach to the flavour problem. The chosen compactification of a 6-dimensional orbifold implies a remnant family symmetry $A_4$. This makes interesting predictions for quark and lepton masses, for neutrino oscillations and neutrinoless double beta decay, providing also a very good global description of all flavour observables. Due to an auxiliary $\mathbb{Z}_4$ symmetry, we implement a scotogenic Majorana neutrino mass generation mechanism with a viable WIMP dark matter candidate.
We study the set of models in which the Standard Model symmetry is extended with the flavour group A4 and there are three copies of the Standard Model Higgs that transform as a triplet under this group. In this setup, new channels for flavour violating processes can be studied once the A4 representations of the fermions in the theory are given. We show that it is of great importance to take these constraints into account as they can put severe constraints on the viability of flavour models.
We perform a three flavour analysis of the atmospheric, accelerator and reactor neutrino data from the Kamiokande, LSND and Bugey experiments respectively. Choosing the values of ${Δ{m}}^2$ obtained from two flavour fits of the first two experiments, the allowed ranges of the three generation mixing angles are determined. The accelerator experiments CHORUS and NOMAD are found to be most sensitive to regions of the allowed parameter space which correspond to genuine three generation solutions for the atmospheric neutrino anomaly.
We briefly review some recent developments in theoretical models of fermion masses, mixings and CP violation with discrete non-Abelian symmetries. Then, we explain the main ideas of a recently proposed Minimal S_3 Invariant Extension of the Standard Model and its application to a unified analysis of masses, mixings and CP violation in the leptonic and quark sectors as well as the explicit computation of the V_PMNS and V_CKM mixing matrices.
We investigate to what extent a generic, generation-dependent $U(1)$ symmetry acting on the quark Yukawa operators can reduce the number of free parameters by forcing some entries in the Yukawa matrices to vanish. The maximal reduction compatible with CP violation yields nine real parameters and one phase, which matches the number of physical observables, implying that such models have no free parameters. We derive a set of results: (i) the only possible structures have the form $M_4 \oplus M_5$, where the subscripts indicate the number of real parameters in the Yukawa matrices, (ii) there are…
Some theoretical aspects of 3-flavour (3f) neutrino oscillations are reviewed. These include: general properties of 3f oscillation probabilities; matter effects in ν_μ\leftrightarrow ν_τoscillations; 3f effects in oscillations of solar, atmospheric, reactor and supernova neutrinos and in accelerator long-baseline experiments; CP and T violation in neutrino oscillations in vacuum and in matter, and the problem of U_{e3}.
Non-standard neutrino interactions (NSIs), the sub-leading effects in the flavour transitions of neutrinos, play a crucial role in the determination of the various unknowns in neutrino oscillations, such as neutrino mass hierarchy, Dirac CP violating phase and the octant of atmospheric mixing angle. In this work, we focus on the possible implications of lepton flavour violating (LFV) NSIs, which generally affect the neutrino propagation, on the determination of the these unknown oscillation parameters. We study the effect of these NSIs on the physics potential of the currently running and upco…
In this talk I discuss the connection between neutrino mass, flavour and CP violation. I focus on three neutrino patterns of neutrino masses and mixing angles, and the corresponding Majorana mass matrices. I discuss the see-saw mechanism, and show how it may be applied in a very natural way to give a neutrino mass hierarchy with large atmospheric and solar angles by assuming sequential right-handed neutrino dominance. I then distinguish between heavy sequential dominance and light sequential dominance, and show how lepton flavour violation in the CMSSM provides a way to discriminate between th…
We demonstrate how residual flavour symmetries, infrared signatures of symmetry breaking in complete models of flavour, can naturally forbid (or limit in a flavour specific way) flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNC) in multi-Higgs-doublet models (MHDM) without using mass hierarchies. We first review how this model-independent mechanism can control the fermionic mixing patterns of the Standard Model, and then implement the symmetries in the Yukawa sector of MHDM, which allows us to intimately connect the predictivity of a given flavour model with its ability to sequester FCNC. Finally, after…
We briefly review flavour violation in the lepton sector: starting from neutrino oscillations and their implications, we consider several charged lepton flavour violating observables at high and low energies. We present new physics models and discuss the rôle of the latter in disentangling them. In particular, we show how the interplay of different observables allows to derive important information on the underlying mechanism of lepton flavour violation. As an example, we discuss the impact of a type-I SUSY seesaw concerning lepton flavour violation at low energies and at colliders (LHC and a …
Non-Standard neutrino Interactions (NSI) are vector contact interactions involving two neutrinos and two first generation fermions, which can affect neutrino propagation in matter. SU(2) gauge invariance suggests that NSI should be accompanied by more observable charged lepton contact interactions. However, these can be avoided at tree level in various ways. We focus on lepton flavour-changing NSI, suppose they are generated by New Physics heavier than $m_W$ that does not induce (charged) Lepton Flavour Violation (LFV) at tree level, and show that LFV is generated at one loop in most cases. Th…
The neutrino signal from SN1987A is analysed with respect to spin-flavour oscillations between electron antineutrinos, $\barν_{e}$, and muon neutrinos, $ν_μ$, by means of a maximum likelihood analysis. Following Jegerlehner et al. best fit values for the total energy released in neutrinos, $E_t$, and the temperature of the electron antineutrino, $T_{\barν_{e}}$, for a range of mixing parameters and progenitor models are calculated. In particular the dependence of the inferred quantities on the metallicity of the supernova is investigated and the uncertainties involved in using the neutrino sig…
Though models with the radiative neutrino mass generation are phenomenologically attractive, the complicated relationship between the flavour structure of additional Yukawa matrices and the neutrino mass matrix sometimes is a barrier to explore the models. We introduce a simple prescription to analyze the relation in a class of models with the asymmetric Yukawa structure. We then apply the treatment to the Zee-Babu model as a concrete example of the class and discuss the phenomenological consequences of the model. The combined studies among the neutrino physics, the lepton flavour violation, a…
We study the effect of non-vanishing masses and mixings among neutrino flavours on the detection of neutrinos from stellar collapse by a water Cerenkov detector. We consider a realistic framework in which there are three neutrino flavours whose mass squared differences and mixings are constrained by the present understanding of solar and atmospheric neutrinos. We also include the effects of high dense matter within the supernova core. We find that the number of events due to the dominant process involving electron-antineutrinos may change dramatically for some allowed mixing parameters. Furthe…
Flavour physics is a priceless window on physics beyond the Standard Model. In particular, flavour violation in the lepton sector looks very promising, as high precision measurements are prospected in future experiments investigating on $μ\rightarrow e$ conversion in atomic nuclei: the predictions for this observable are analysed in the context of the type I Seesaw mechanism. Furthermore, new ideas to explain the Flavour Puzzle recently appeared, mainly based on a possible dynamical origin of the Yukawa couplings and on flavour symmetries. The focus of this proceeding will be set on the Minima…
Flavour symmetries have been used to constrain both quark and lepton mixing parameters. In particular, they can be used to completely fix the mixing angles. For the lepton sector, assuming that neutrinos are Majorana particles, we have derived the complete list of mixing patterns achievable in this way, as well as the symmetry groups associated to each case. Partial computer scans done in the past have hinted that such list is limited, and this does indeed turn out to be the case. In addition, most mixing patterns are already 3-sigma excluded by neutrino oscillation data.
