A predictive scheme for neutrino masses

The solar and atmospheric data and possibly large value for the effective neutrino mass in neutrinoless double beta decay experiment together indicate that all the three neutrinos are nearly degenerate. A verifiable texture for the neutrino mass matrix is proposed to accommodate these results. This texture allows almost degenerate neutrino masses two of which are exactly degenerate at tree level. The standard model radiative corrections lift this degeneracy and account for the solar deficit. The solar scale is correlated with the effective neutrino mass $m_{ee}$ probed in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. The model can accommodate a large value of O(eV) for $m_{ee}$. Six observables corresponding to three neutrino masses and three mixing angles are determined in terms of only three unknown parameters within the proposed texture.