CKM Substructure

Abstract

The CKM matrix is not generic. The Wolfenstein parametrization encodes structure by having one small parameter, $\lambda \approx 0.22$. We pose the question: is there substructure in the CKM matrix that goes beyond the single small parameter of the Wolfenstein parameterization? We find two relations that are approximately satisfied: $|V_{td}|^2 = |V_{cb}|^3$ and $|V_{ub}|^2 |V_{us}| = |V_{cb}|^4$. We discuss the statistical significance of these relations and find that they may indicate deeper structure in the CKM matrix. The current precision, however, cannot exclude an $\mathcal{O}(10 \%)$ accident.