Abstract: We propose a simple Delta (27) circle times Z(4) model where neutrinos are predicted to be Dirac fermions. The smallness of their masses follows from a type-I seesaw mechanism and the leptonic CP violating phase correlates with the pattern of Delta(27) flavor symmetry breaking. The scheme naturally harbors a WIMP dark matter candidate associated to the Dirac nature of neutrinos, in that the same Z(4) lepton number symmetry also ensures dark matter stability.

Abstract: The historical discovery of neutrino oscillations using solar and atmospheric neutrinos, and subsequent accelerator and reactor studies, has brought neutrino physics to the precision era. We note that CP effects in oscillation phenomena could be difficult to extract in the presence of unitarity violation. As a result upcoming dedicated leptonic CP violation studies should take into account the non-unitarity of the lepton mixing matrix. Restricting non-unitarity will shed light on the seesaw scale, and thereby guide us towards the new physics responsible for neutrino mass generation.

Abstract: The possibility of measuring neutral-current coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CENNS) at the TEXONO experiment has opened high expectations towards probing exotic neutrino properties. Focusing on low threshold Germanium-based targets with kg-scale mass, we find a remarkable efficiency not only for detecting CENNS events due to the weak interaction, but also for probing novel electromagnetic neutrino interactions. Specifically, we demonstrate that such experiments are complementary in performing precision Standard Model tests as well as in shedding light on sub-leading effects due to neutrino magnetic moment and neutrino charge radius. This work employs realistic nuclear structure calculations based on the quasi-particle random phase approximation (QRPA) and takes into consideration the crucial quenching effect corrections. Such a treatment, in conjunction with a simple statistical analysis, shows that the attainable sensitivities are improved by one order of magnitude as compared to previous studies.

Abstract: We propose two schemes for the lepton mixing matrix U = (U1U nu)-U-dagger, where U = U-1 refers to the charged sector, and U-v denotes the neutrino diagonalization matrix. We assume U-nu to be CP conserving and its three angles to be connected with the Cabibbo angle in a simple manner. CP violation arises solely from the U-1, assumed to have the CKM form, U-1 similar or equal to V-CKM, suggested by unification. Oscillation parameters depend on a single parameter, leading to narrow ranges for the “solar” and “accelerator” angles theta(12) and theta(23), as well as for the CP phase, predicted as delta(CP) similar to +/- 1.3 pi.

Abstract: The extended electroweak SU(3)(c) circle times SU(3)(L) circle times U(1)(X) symmetry framework “explaining” the number of fermion families is revisited. While 331-based schemes can not easily be unified within the conventional field theory sense, we show how to do it within an approach based on D-branes and (un)oriented open strings, on Calabi-Yau singularities. We show how the theory can be UV-completed in a quiver setup, free of gauge and string anomalies. Lepton and baryon numbers are perturbatively conserved, so neutrinos are Dirac-type, and their lightness results from a novel TeV scale seesaw mechanism. Dynamical violation of baryon number by exotic instantons could induce neutron-antineutron oscillations, with proton decay and other dangerous R-parity violating processes strictly forbidden. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.