Towards a theory of quark and lepton masses

Abstract

Has any progress been made on understanding and predicting the 13 parameters which describe the observed masses and mixing angles of the quarks and leptons? Arguments are given in favor of pursuing schemes in which grand unified and family symmetries provide many relations among these 13 parameters. A sequence of simple assumptions leads to a supersymmetric SO(10) theory with 8 predictions: $\tan \beta, m_t, V_{cb}, m_s, m_s/m_d$, $m_u/m_d, V_{ub}$ and the amount of CP violation $J$. These predictions are presented, together with experiments which will test them.