Discrete Symmetries and Neutrino Mass Perturbations for \theta_{13}

Abstract

The recent measurement of the third lepton mixing angle, \theta_{13}, has shown that, although small compared to \theta_{12} and \theta_{23}, it is much larger than anticipated in schemes that generate Tri-Bi-Maximal (TBM) or Golden Ratio (GR) mixing. We develop a model-independent formalism for perturbations away from exact TBM or GR mixing in the neutrino sector. Each resulting perturbation scheme reflects an underlying symmetry structure and involves a single complex parameter. We show that such perturbations can readily fit the observed value of \theta_{13}, which is then correlated with a change in the other mixing angles. We also determine the implication for the lepton CP violating phases. For comparison we determine the predictions for Bi-Maximal mixing corrected by charged lepton mixing and we discuss the accuracy that will be needed to distinguish between the various schemes.