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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Noncanonical nucleon decays as window into light new physics

Kåre Fridell1,2,*, Chandan Hati3,4,†, and Volodymyr Takhistov5,1,6,7,‡

  • *Contact author: kare.fridell@kek.jp
  • †Contact author: chandan@ific.uv.es
  • ‡Contact author: vtakhist@post.kek.jp
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Phys. Rev. D 110, L031701 – Published 13 August, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.L031701

Abstract

Nucleon decays are generic predictions of motivated theories, including those based on the unification of forces and supersymmetry. We demonstrate that noncanonical nucleon decays offer a unique opportunity to broadly probe light new particles beyond the Standard Model with masses below ∼ few GeV over decades in mass range, including axion-like particles, dark photons, sterile neutrinos, and scalar dark matter. Conventional searches can misinterpret and even completely miss such new physics. We propose a general strategy based on momenta of visible decay final states to probe these processes, offering a rich physics program for existing and upcoming experiments such as Super-Kamiokande, Hyper-Kamiokande, DUNE, and JUNO.

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Phys. Rev. D 110, L031701– Published 13 August, 2024
  • Received 22 January 2024
  • Accepted 9 July 2024
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