On quark-lepton complementarity

Abstract

Recent measurements of the neutrino solar mixing angle and the Cabibbo angle satisfy the empirical relation theta_{sol} + theta_{C} ~ 45^{o}. This relation suggests the existence of a correlation between the mixing matrices of leptons and quarks, the so called quark-lepton complementarity. Here, we examine the possibility that this correlation originates in the strong hierarchy in the mass spectra of quarks and charged leptons, and the seesaw mechanism that gives mass to the Majorana neutrinos. In a unified treatment of quarks and leptons in which the mass matrices of all fermions have a similar Fritzsch texture, we calculate the mixing matrices V_{CKM} and U_{MNSP} as functions of quark and lepton masses and only two free parameters, in very good agreement with the latest experimental values on masses and mixings. Three essential ingredients to explain the quark-lepton complementarity relation are identified: the strong hierarchy in the mass spectra of quarks and charged leptons, the normal seesaw mechanism and the assumption of maximal CP violation in the lepton sector.