Large Solar Neutrino Mixing and Radiative Neutrino Mechanism

Abstract

We find that the presence of a global $L_e-L_μ-L_τ$ ($\equiv L^\prime$) symmetry and an $S_2$ permutation symmetry for the $μ$- and $τ$-families supplemented by a discrete $Z_4$ symmetry naturally leads to almost maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing and large solar neutrino mixing, which arise, respectively, from type II seesaw mechanism initiated by an $S_2$-symmetric triplet Higgs scalar $s$ with $L^\prime=2$ and from radiative mechanism of the Zee type initiated by two singly charged scalars, an $S_2$-symmetric $h^+$ with $L^\prime=0$ and an $S_2$-antisymmetric $h^{\prime +}$ with $L^\prime=2$. The almost maximal mixing for atmospheric neutrinos is explained by the appearance of the democratic coupling of $s$ to neutrinos ensured by $S_2$ and $Z_4$ while the large mixing for solar neutrinos is explained by the similarity of $h^+$- and $h^{\prime +}$-couplings described by $f^h_+\sim f^h_-$ and $μ_+\simμ_-$, where $f^h_+$ ($f^h_-$) and $μ_+$ ($μ_-$) stand for $h^+$ ($h^{\prime +}$)-couplings, respectively, to leptons and to Higgs scalars.