O(3) flavor symmetry and an empirical neutrino mass matrix

Based on a new approach to quark and lepton masses, where the mass spectra originate in vacuum expectation values of O(3)-flavor 1 + 5 (gauge singlet) scalars, a neutrino mass matrix of a new type is speculated. The mass matrix is described in terms of the up-quark and charged lepton masses, and, by assuming a special flavor basis, it can be accommodated to a nearly tribimaximal mixing without explicitly assuming a discrete symmetry. Quark mass relations are also discussed based on the new approach. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.