Symmetric textures in SO(10) and neutrino masses

A model based on SO(10) x SU(2)F having symmetric mass textures with 5 zeros is constructed. The symmetric mass textures arising from the left-right symmetry breaking chain of SO(10) give rise to good predictions for the masses, mixing angles and CP violation measures in the quark and lepton sectors (including the neutrinos), all in agreement with the most up-to-date experimental data within 1 σ. Various lepton flavor violating decays in our model are also investigated. Unlike in models with lop-sided textures, our prediction for the decay rate of μ → eγ is much suppressed and yet it is large enough to be probed by the next generation of experiments. The observed baryonic asymmetry in the Universe can be accommodated utilizing soft leptogenesis. (author)