Gauge Model of Quark-Lepton Nonuniversality

We propose a gauge model where quark-lepton universality is an accidental symmetry which is only approximate, in analogy to the well-accepted notion that strong isospin is accidental and approximate. This is a natural framework for explaining possible small deviations of quark-lepton universality which is applicable to the recently reported apparent nonunitarity of the quark mixing matrix. As a result, small departures from quark-lepton universality are expected in Z decays as well as in the recent neutrino data of the NuTeV collaboration and in future low-energy experiments. New physics is predicted at the TeV scale.