Flavor Symmetries in Extra Dimensions

Abstract

We present a class of models of flavor that rely on the use of flavor symmetries and the Froggart-Nielsen mechanism in extra dimensions. The particle content is that of the standard model plus an additional flavon field; all the fields propagate in universal extra dimensions and the flavor scale is associated with the cutoff of the theory, which in 5D is $\sim 10$ TeV. The Yukawa matrices are generated by higher dimension operators involving flavon fields, whose vacuum expectation values break the flavor symmetry. We apply this framework and present a specific 5D model based on a discrete local symmetry that reproduces all fermion masses and mixing angles both in the quark and charged lepton sectors.

9 pages RevTex, 2 tables, Included more discussion related to the FN mechanism in extra dimensions. The neutrino sector has been modified and a new smaller symmetry has been implemented. To appear in Mod. Phys. Lett. A