Is the muon a third family lepton?

Abstract

We propose a new family structure for the Standard Model fermions, where the muon is assigned to the third family, taking the placeholder from the tau lepton. This reassignment, which is a mere choice of convention in the Standard Model, becomes physically meaningful in the presence of new physics assuming a direct link between quarks and leptons. In fact, when quark and leptons are coupled by new interactions, the choice of which lepton is assigned to a particular quark generation brings physical consequences, revealing potentially meaningful patterns in the masses and mixings, while pointing to precise and testable predictions for experiments.