Yukawa matrix ($Y_f$)

A Yukawa matrix contains the flavor-space couplings between left-handed fermions, right-handed fermions, and a scalar field. Its singular values determine fermion masses after symmetry breaking, while mismatches between its diagonalizing transformations produce flavor mixing.

Let the left and right fermions transform in $D\oplus \epsilon$, where $D$ is the two-dimensional irreducible representation of the symmetric group $S_3$ and $\epsilon$ is the sign representation. Let the scalar field be a trivial representation. In matching orthonormal bases, invariance of ${\bar{\psi }}_L\lambda {\psi }_R$ says that $\lambda$ commutes with $D\oplus \epsilon$. The Schur lemma forces each diagonal irreducible block to be scalar and both mixed blocks to vanish, giving the displayed form. Thus after a vacuum expectation value $h$, the physical fermion mass matrix has singular values $|ha|,|ha|,|hb|$: unbroken $S_3$ enforces a degenerate doublet. In a common nonorthonormal basis with invariant Gram matrix $K$, the doublet coefficient is $aK$; canonical normalization recovers $a{I}_2$.

A singular value decomposition of the charged-lepton Yukawa matrix uses independent unitary rotations of left- and right-handed leptons. Their gauge-covariant kinetic terms are unchanged because each rotation mixes identical Standard Model representations. After electroweak symmetry breaking, the nonnegative singular values give Dirac masses $m_i=y_{i}v/\sqrt{2}$ and diagonal Higgs boson couplings $m_i/v$. When the neutrinos are massless, rotating their left-handed fields with the charged partners preserves the diagonal weak charged current.