The Mystery of Flavor

Abstract

After outlining some of the issues surrounding the flavor problem, I present three speculative ideas on the origin of families. In turn, families are conjectured to arise from an underlying preon dynamics; from random dynamics at very short distances; or as a result of compactification in higher-dimensional theories. Examples and limitations of each of these speculative scenarios are discussed. The twin roles that family symmetries and GUT's can have on the spectrum of quarks and leptons is emphasized, along with the dominant role that the top mass is likely to play in the dynamics of mass generation.