Quark mixing sum rules and the right unitarity triangle

Abstract

In analogy with the recently proposed lepton mixing sum rules, we derive quark mixing sum rules for the case of hierarchical quark mass matrices with 1-3 texture zeros, in which the separate up and down type 1-3 mixing angles are approximately zero, and $V_{ub}$ is generated from $V_{cb}$ as a result of 1-2 up type quark mixing. Using the sum rules, we discuss the phenomenological viability of such textures, including up to four texture zeros, and show how the right-angled unitarity triangle, i.e., $\alpha \approx 90^\circ$, can be accounted for by a remarkably simple scheme involving real mass matrices apart from a single element being purely imaginary. In the framework of grand unified theories we show how the quark and lepton mixing sum rules may combine to yield an accurate prediction for the reactor angle.