Double seesaw mechanism and lepton mixing

Abstract

We present a general framework for models in which the lepton mixing matrix is the product of the maximal mixing matrix U_\omega\ times a matrix constrained by a well-defined Z_2 symmetry. Our framework relies on neither supersymmetry nor non-renormalizable Lagrangians nor higher dimensions; it relies instead on the double seesaw mechanism and on the soft breaking of symmetries. The framework may be used to construct models for virtually all the lepton mixing matrices of the type mentioned above which have been proposed in the literature.