Vacuum misalignment corrections to tri-bimaximal mixing and form dominance

Abstract: Tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing may arise from see-saw models based on family symmetry which is spontaneously broken by flavons with particular vacuum alignments. However recent analyses hint that tri-bimaximal mixing may be insensitive to the precise form of vacuum alignment. In this paper we derive approximate analytic results which express the deviations from tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing due to vacuum misalignment. We also relate vacuum misalignment to departures from form dominance, corresponding to deviations from the real orthogonal $R$ matrix, where such corrections are necessary to allow for successful leptogenesis. The analytic results show that the corrections to tri-bimaximal mixing and form dominance depend on the pattern of the vacuum misalignment, with the two effects being uncorrelated.