A Horizontal Symmetry for Leptons and Quarks
  A generic valon potential invariant under U(1)\x SO(3) is used to determine whether the horizontal symmetry of leptons is $A_4$, $S_4$, or some other finite subgroups of SO(3). Valons in the potential are assigned SO(3) spins 0, 1, and 2, for these are the only ones that can couple to the three generation of fermions with horizontal spin 1. This potential causes a breakdown into three possible phases with three different symmetries. Phase I has an $A_4$ symmetry suitable for leptonic mixing. Phase II has an SO(2) symmetry and phase III has a $Z_2\x Z_2$ symmetry, both capable of describing Cabibbo mixing of quarks. Phase II has to be rejected on phenomenological ground, but phase III yields block diagonal and hierarchical mass matrices appropriate for quarks. No other non-abelian symmetry such as $S_4$ is present. 
C.S. Lam
hep-ph