Perspective on quark mass and mixing relations

Recent data indicate that ${\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{u}\mathit{b}}$≃${\lambda }^4$≃(0.22${)}^4$, while ${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{t}}$ seems to be 174 GeV. The relations ${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{d}}$/${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{s}}$∼${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{s}}$/${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{b}}$∼δ∼${\lambda }^2$≃‖${\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{c}\mathit{b}}$‖ and ${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{u}}$/${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{c}}$∼${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{c}}$/${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{t}}$∼${\mathrm{\delta }}^2$∼${\lambda }^4$∼‖${\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{u}\mathit{b}}$‖ suggest that the down-type sector is responsible for ‖${\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{u}\mathit{s}}$‖ and ‖${\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{c}\mathit{b}}$‖, while ${\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{u}\mathit{b}}$ comes from the up-type sector. Five to six parameters might suffice to account for the ten quark mass and mixing parameters, resulting in specific power series representations for the mass matrices. In this picture, δ seems to be the more sensible expansion parameter, while λ≃ √${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{d}}$/${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{s}}$ ∼ √δ is tied empirically to (${\mathit{M}}_{\mathit{d}}$ ${)}_{11}$=0. The pattern suggests that the mass generation mechanism might be close to the weak scale.