Anomalous Z′ bosons for anomalous B decays

Abstract

Motivated by the intriguing discrepancies in b → sℓℓ transitions, the fermion mass problem, and a desire to preserve the accidental symmetries of the Standard Model (SM), we extend the SM by an anomalous U(1)X gauge symmetry where X = Y3 + a(Lμ− Lτ)/6. The heavy Z′ boson associated with spontaneously breaking U(1)X at the TeV scale mediates the b → sℓℓ anomalies via O9μ~1Λ2(s¯γρPLb)(μ¯γρμ). We show that this model, which features mixed gauge anomalies involving U(1)X and hypercharge, can be made anomaly-free for any a ∈ ℤ by integrating in a pair of charged fermions whose masses naturally reside somewhere between 1 and 30 TeV. The gauge symmetry permits only the third family Yukawas at the renormalisable level, and so the light quark masses and mixings are controlled by accidental U(2)3 flavour symmetries which we assume are minimally broken alongside U(1)X. The lepton sector is not governed by U(2) symmetries, but rather one expects a nearly diagonal charged lepton Yukawa with me,μ « mτ. The model does not explain the hierarchy me « mμ, but it does possess high quality lepton flavour symmetries that are robust to the heavy physics responsible for generating me,μ. We establish the viability of these models by checking agreement with the most important experimental constraints. We comment on how the model could also explain neutrino masses and the muon g − 2.