TEXTURE-ZERO MODEL FOR THE LEPTON MASS MATRICES
Abstract
We suggest a simple model, based on the type-I seesaw mechanism, for the lepton mass matrices. The model hinges on an Abelian symmetry which leads to mass matrices with some vanishing matrix elements. The model predicts one massless neutrino and Meμ = 0 (M is the effective light-neutrino Majorana mass matrix). We show that these predictions agree with the present experimental data if the neutrino mass spectrum is inverted, i.e. if m3 = 0, provided the Dirac phase δ is very close to maximal (±π/ 2). In the case of a normal neutrino mass spectrum, i.e. when m1 = 0, the agreement of our model with the data is imperfect — the reactor mixing angle θ13 is too small in our model. Minimal leptogenesis is not an option in our model due to the vanishing elements in the Yukawa-coupling matrices.
