Three-Neutrino Mass Matrices with Two Texture Zeros

Out of the 15 3 × 3 neutrino mass matrices with two texture zeros, seven are compatible with the neutrino oscillation data. While two of them correspond to hierarchical neutrino masses and 1 to an inverted hierarchy, the remaining four correspond to degenerate masses. Moreover only the first three of the seven mass matrices are compatible with the maximal mixing angle of atmospheric neutrino and hence favored by data. We give compact expressions for mass matrices in terms of mass eigenvalues and study phenomenological implications for the seven cases. Similarity of the textures of the neutrino, charged-lepton mass matrices with those of quark mass matrices is also discussed.