Generalized perturbations in neutrino mixing

Abstract

We derive expressions for the neutrino mixing parameters that result from complex perturbations on (1) the Majorana neutrino mass matrix (in the basis of charged lepton mass eigenstates) and on (2) the charged lepton mass matrix, for arbitrary initial (unperturbed) mixing matrices. In the first case, we find that the phases of the elements of the perturbation matrix, and the initial values of the Dirac and Majorana phases, strongly impact the leading order corrections to the neutrino mixing parameters and phases. For experimentally compatible scenarios wherein the initial neutrino mass matrix has $\mu-\tau$ symmetry, we find that the Dirac phase can take any value under small perturbations. Similarly, in the second case, perturbations to the charged lepton mass matrix can generate large corrections to the mixing angles and phases of the PMNS matrix. As an illustration of our generalized procedure, we apply it to a situation in which nonstandard scalar and nonstandard vector interactions simultaneously affect neutrino oscillations.