Leptogenesis in the two right-handed neutrino model revisited

We revisit leptogenesis in the minimal non-supersymmetric type I see-saw mechanism with two right-handed (RH) neutrinos, including flavour effects and allowing both RH neutrinos N_1 and N_2 to contribute, rather than just the lightest RH neutrino N_1 that has hitherto been considered. By performing scans over parameter space in terms of the single complex angle z of the orthogonal matrix R, for a range of PMNS parameters, we find that in regions around z \sim \pm \pi/2, for the case of a normal mass hierarchy, the N_2 contribution can dominate the contribution to leptogenesis, allowing the lightest RH neutrino mass to be decreased by about an order of magnitude in these regions, down to M_1 \sim 1.3*10^11 GeV for vanishing initial N_2-abundance, with the numerical results supported by analytic estimates. We show that the regions around z \sim \pm \pi /2 correspond to light sequential dominance, so the new results in this paper may be relevant to unified model building.Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures; v2 matches published version in PR

Right unitarity triangles and tri-bimaximal mixing from discrete symmetries and unification

We propose new classes of models which predict both tri-bimaximal lepton mixing and a right-angled Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) unitarity triangle, alpha approximately 90 degrees. The ingredients of the models include a supersymmetric (SUSY) unified gauge group such as SU(5), a discrete family symmetry such as A4 or S4, a shaping symmetry including products of Z2 and Z4 groups as well as spontaneous CP violation. We show how the vacuum alignment in such models allows a simple explanation of alpha approximately 90 degrees by a combination of purely real or purely imaginary vacuum expectation values (vevs) of the flavons responsible for family symmetry breaking. This leads to quark mass matrices with 1-3 texture zeros that satisfy the phase sum rule and lepton mass matrices that satisfy the lepton mixing sum rule together with a new prediction that the leptonic CP violating oscillation phase is close to either 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees depending on the model, with neutrino masses being purely real (no complex Majorana phases). This leads to the possibility of having right-angled unitarity triangles in both the quark and lepton sectors.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figures, version to be published in NP

Suppressed FCNC in New Physics with Shared Flavor Symmetry

Many extensions of the Standard Model(SM) generate contributions to Flavor Changing Neutral Current(FCNC) processes that must have sufficient flavor suppression to be consistent with experiments, if the new physics (NP) is associated with a scale of a TeV. Here we present a mechanism for suppressing the NP effects to FCNC processes. We consider the possibility that the source of NP contributions to FCNC processes share the same flavor symmetry underlying the SM source of FCNC processes which are the quark and lepton mass matrices. We call this the principle of shared flavor symmetry. In the flavor symmetric limit, the quark and lepton mixing matrices have fixed forms and there are no NP FCNC processes. In the flavor symmetric limit, we take the quark mixing matrix to be the identity matrix and the lepton mixing matrix to be given by tri-bimaximal mixing. Realistic mixing matrices are obtained by the small breaking of the flavor symmetry. New contributions to FCNC processes arise because of non universal breaking of the flavor symmetry in the quark and lepton mass matrices and the NP sources of FCNC processes. In particular, we will focus on new FCNC effects that arise due to the breaking of flavor symmetry only in the quark and charged lepton mass matrices but not in the NP sector. In this scenario, NP contributions to FCNC processes is linked to the source of flavor symmetry breaking in the quark and charged lepton mass matrices. To demonstrate the mechanism we use a two higgs doublet model as an example of beyond the SM physics though one should be able to adapt this mechanism to other models of new physics.Comment: 20 pages, no figure

Starobinsky-like inflation in no-scale supergravity Wess-Zumino model with Polonyi term

We propose a simple modification of the no-scale supergravity Wess-Zumino model of Starobinsky-like inflation to include a Polonyi term in the superpotential. The purpose of this term is to provide an explicit mechanism for supersymmetry breaking at the end of inflation. We show how successful inflation can be achieved for a gravitino mass satisfying the strict upper bound $m_{3/2}< 10^3$ TeV, with favoured values $m_{3/2}\lesssim\mathcal{O}(1)$ TeV. The model suggests that SUSY may be discovered in collider physics experiments such as the LHC or the FCC.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Large U_{e3} and Tri-bimaximal Mixing

We investigate in a model-independent way to what extent one can perturb tri-bimaximal mixing in order to generate a sizable value of |U_{e3}|, while at the same time keeping solar neutrino mixing near its measured value, which is close to sin^2 theta_{12} = 1/3. Three straightforward breaking mechanisms to generate |U_{e3}| of about 0.1 are considered. For charged lepton corrections, the suppression of a sizable contribution to sin^2 theta_{12} can be achieved if CP violation in neutrino oscillations is almost maximal. Generation of the indicated value of |U_{e3}| of about 0.1 through renormalization group corrections requires the neutrinos to be quasi-degenerate in mass. The consistency with the allowed range of sin^2 theta_{12} together with large running of |U_{e3}| forces one of the Majorana phases to be close to pi. This implies large cancellations in the effective Majorana mass governing neutrino-less double beta, constraining it to lie near its minimum allowed value of m_0 cos 2 theta_{12}, where m_0 is greater than about 0.1 eV. Finally, explicit breaking of the neutrino mass matrix in the inverted hierarchical and quasi-degenerate neutrino mass spectrum cases is similarly correlated with the effective Majorana mass, although to a lesser extent. The implied values for the atmospheric neutrino mixing angle theta_{23} are given in all cases.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure

Bridging flavour violation and leptogenesis in SU(3) family models

We reconsider basic, in the sense of minimal field content, Pati-Salam x SU(3) family models which make use of the Type I see-saw mechanism to reproduce the observed mixing and mass spectrum in the neutrino sector. The goal of this is to achieve the observed baryon asymmetry through the thermal decay of the lightest right-handed neutrino and at the same time to be consistent with the expected experimental lepton flavour violation sensitivity. This kind of models have been previously considered but it was not possible to achieve a compatibility among all of the ingredients mentioned above. We describe then how different SU(3) messengers, the heavy fields that decouple and produce the right form of the Yukawa couplings together with the scalars breaking the SU(3) symmetry, can lead to different Yukawa couplings. This in turn implies different consequences for flavour violation couplings and conditions for realizing the right amount of baryon asymmetry through the decay of the lightest right-handed neutrino. Also a highlight of the present work is a new fit of the Yukawa textures traditionally embedded in SU(3) family models.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures, Some typos correcte

Flavor Symmetry L_mu - L_tau and quasi-degenerate Neutrinos

Current data implies three simple forms of the neutrino mass matrix, each corresponding to the conservation of a non-standard lepton charge. While models based on L_e and L_e - L_mu - L_tau are well-known, little attention has been paid to L_mu - L_tau. A low energy mass matrix conserving L_mu - L_tau implies quasi-degenerate light neutrinos. Moreover, it is mu-tau symmetric and therefore (in contrast to L_e and L_e - L_mu - L_tau) automatically predicts maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing and zero U_{e3}. A see-saw model based on L_mu - L_tau is investigated and testable predictions for the neutrino mixing observables are given. Renormalization group running below and in between the see-saw scales is taken into account in our analysis, both numerically and analytically.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. Prepared for 5th International Conference on Nonaccelerator New Physics (NANP 05), Dubna, Russia, 20-25 Jun 200

Renormalization Group Running of Lepton Mixing Parameters in See-Saw Models with S4S_4 Flavor Symmetry

We study the renormalization group running of the tri-bimaximal mixing predicted by the two typical $S_4$ flavor models at leading order. Although the textures of the mass matrices are completely different, the evolution of neutrino mass and mixing parameters is found to display approximately the same pattern. For both normal hierarchy and inverted hierarchy spectrum, the quantum corrections to both atmospheric and reactor neutrino mixing angles are so small that they can be neglected. The evolution of the solar mixing angle $\theta_{12}$ depends on $\tan\beta$ and neutrino mass spectrum, the deviation from its tri-bimaximal value could be large. Taking into account the renormalization group running effect, the neutrino spectrum is constrained by experimental data on $\theta_{12}$ in addition to the self-consistency conditions of the models, and the inverted hierarchy spectrum is disfavored for large $\tan\beta$. The evolution of light-neutrino masses is approximately described by a common scaling factor.Comment: 23 pages, 6figure