Hybrid MSW + VO Solution of the Solar Neutrino Problem in String-Motivated Unified Theories

Abstract

It is shown that the hybrid MSW + VO solution of the solar neutrino problem, according to which the solar nu_e undergo matter-enhanced transitions into nu_mu, nu_tau in the Sun followed by long wave length (about 1.5 10^8 km) nu_e -> nu_mu, nu_tau oscillations in vacuum between the Sun and the Earth, can occur naturally in string-motivated grand unified theories. We consider the supersymmetric version of a string-type SU(4)xSU(2)_LxSU(2)_R theory with U(1)_X family symmetry, which was shown to successfully describe the charged fermion masses and the quark mixing, and extend the earlier fermion mass analysis to the neutrino sector. We show that the four oscillation parameters Delta m_31^2, Delta m_21^2 and sin^2 2 theta_12, sin^2 2 theta_13, characterising the combined matter-enhanced transitions and vacuum oscillations of the solar nu_e, naturally get values in the ranges of the hybrid MSW + VO solutions found recently.