Models of flavour with discrete symmetries

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.Comment: Latex, 17 pages, no figure

Neutrino masses and mixings in a Minimal S_3-invariant Extension of the Standard Model

The mass matrices of the charged leptons and neutrinos, that had been derived in the framework of a Minimal S_3-invariant Extension of the Standard Model, are here reparametrized in terms of their eigenvalues. The neutrino mixing matrix, V_PMNS, is then computed and exact, explicit analytical expressions for the neutrino mixing angles as functions of the masses of the neutrinos and charged leptons are obtained. The reactor, theta_13, and the atmosferic, theta_23, mixing angles are found to be functions only of the masses of the charged leptons. The numerical values of theta_13{th} and theta_23{th} computed from our theoretical expressions are found to be in excellent agreement with the latest experimental determinations. The solar mixing angle, theta_12{th}, is found to be a function of both, the charged lepton and neutrino masses, as well as of a Majorana phase phi_nu. A comparison of our theoretical expression for the solar angle theta_12{th} with the latest experimental value theta_12{exp} ~ 34 deg allowed us to fix the scale and origin of the neutrino mass spectrum and obtain the mass values |m_nu1|=0.0507 eV, |m_nu2|=0.0499 eV and |m_nu3|=0.0193 eV, in very good agreement with the observations of neutrino oscillations, the bounds extracted from neutrinoless double beta decay and the precision cosmological measurements of the CMB.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the XXIX Symposium on Nuclear Physics, Cocoyoc, Mex., January 2006. Some typographical errors on formulae correcte

On quark-lepton complementarity

Recent measurements of the neutrino solar mixing angle and the Cabibbo angle satisfy the empirical relation theta_{sol} + theta_{C} ~ 45^{o}. This relation suggests the existence of a correlation between the mixing matrices of leptons and quarks, the so called quark-lepton complementarity. Here, we examine the possibility that this correlation originates in the strong hierarchy in the mass spectra of quarks and charged leptons, and the seesaw mechanism that gives mass to the Majorana neutrinos. In a unified treatment of quarks and leptons in which the mass matrices of all fermions have a similar Fritzsch texture, we calculate the mixing matrices V_{CKM} and U_{MNSP} as functions of quark and lepton masses and only two free parameters, in very good agreement with the latest experimental values on masses and mixings. Three essential ingredients to explain the quark-lepton complementarity relation are identified: the strong hierarchy in the mass spectra of quarks and charged leptons, the normal seesaw mechanism and the assumption of maximal CP violation in the lepton sector.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in "Particles and fields: Xth Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields" (Morelia, Mich. Mexico, November 6-12, 2005), Eds. A. Bashir and L. Villasenor, AIP Conference proceedings (2006

Coulomb correlations of a few body system of spatially separated charges

A Hartree-Fock and Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov study of a few body system of spatially separated charge carriers was carried out. Using these variational states, we compute an approximation to the correlation energy of a finite system of electron-hole pairs. This energy is shown as a function of the Coulomb coupling and the interplane distance. We discuss how the correlation energy can be used to theoretically determine the formation of indirect excitons in semiconductors which is relevant for collective phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC).Comment: Conference EDISON16 (2009), 4 page