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Search for proton decay via $p \to μ^{+} K^{0}$ in 0.37 megaton-years exposure of Super-Kamiokande

R. Matsumoto ⁴⁹, K. Abe^1,47, Y. Hayato^1,47, K. Hiraide^1,47, K. Ieki¹, M. Ikeda^1,47, J. Kameda^1,47, Y. Kanemura¹, R. Kaneshima¹ et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)

R. Kaneshima¹, Y. Kashiwagi¹, Y. Kataoka^1,47, S. Miki^1,47, S. Mine^1,7, M. Miura^1,47, S. Moriyama^1,47, Y. Nakano¹, M. Nakahata^1,47, S. Nakayama^1,47, Y. Noguchi¹, K. Okamoto¹, K. Sato¹, H. Sekiya^1,47, H. Shiba¹, K. Shimizu¹, M. Shiozawa^1,47, Y. Sonoda¹, Y. Suzuki¹, A. Takeda^1,47, Y. Takemoto^1,47, A. Takenaka¹, H. Tanaka^1,47, S. Watanabe¹, T. Yano¹, S. Han², T. Kajita^2,47,23, K. Okumura^2,47, T. Tashiro², T. Tomiya², X. Wang², J. Xia², S. Yoshida², G. D. Megias³, P. Fernandez⁴, L. Labarga⁴, N. Ospina⁴, B. Zaldivar⁴, B. W. Pointon^6,51, E. Kearns^5,47, J. L. Raaf⁵, L. Wan⁵, T. Wester⁵, J. Bian⁷, N. J. Griskevich⁷, W. R. Kropp^7,*, S. Locke⁷, M. B. Smy^7,47, H. W. Sobel^7,47, V. Takhistov^7,47, A. Yankelevich⁷, J. Hill⁸, J. Y. Kim⁹, I. T. Lim⁹, R. G. Park⁹, B. Bodur¹⁰, K. Scholberg^10,47, C. W. Walter^10,47, L. Bernard¹¹, A. Coffani¹¹, O. Drapier¹¹, S. El Hedri¹¹, A. Giampaolo¹¹, Th. A. Mueller¹¹, A. D. Santos¹¹, P. Paganini¹¹, B. Quilain¹¹, T. Ishizuka¹², T. Nakamura¹³, J. S. Jang¹⁴, J. G. Learned¹⁵, K. Choi¹⁶, S. Cao¹⁷, L. H. V. Anthony¹⁸, D. Martin¹⁸, M. Scott¹⁸, A. A. Sztuc¹⁸, Y. Uchida¹⁸, V. Berardi¹⁹, M. G. Catanesi¹⁹, E. Radicioni¹⁹, N. F. Calabria²⁰, L. N. Machado²⁰, G. De Rosa²⁰, G. Collazuol²¹, F. Iacob²¹, M. Lamoureux²¹, M. Mattiazzi²¹, L. Ludovici²², M. Gonin²³, G. Pronost²³, C. Fujisawa²⁵, Y. Maekawa²⁴, Y. Nishimura²⁴, M. Friend²⁵, T. Hasegawa²⁵, T. Ishida²⁵, T. Kobayashi²⁵, M. Jakkapu²⁵, T. Matsubara²⁵, T. Nakadaira²⁵, K. Nakamura^25,47, Y. Oyama²⁵, K. Sakashita²⁵, T. Sekiguchi²⁵, T. Tsukamoto²⁵, T. Boschi²⁶, F. Di Lodovico²⁶, J. Gao²⁶, A. Goldsack²⁶, T. Katori²⁶, J. Migenda²⁶, M. Taani²⁶, Z. Xie²⁶, S. Zsoldos^26,47, Y. Kotsar²⁷, H. Ozaki²⁷, A. T. Suzuki²⁷, Y. Takeuchi^27,47, S. Yamamoto²⁷, C. Bronner²⁸, J. Feng²⁸, T. Kikawa²⁸, M. Mori²⁸, T. Nakaya^28,47, R. A. Wendell^28,47, K. Yasutome²⁸, S. J. Jenkins²⁹, N. McCauley²⁹, P. Mehta²⁹, K. M. Tsui²⁹, A. Tarrant²⁹, Y. Fukuda³⁰, Y. Itow^31,32, H. Menjo³¹, K. Ninomiya³¹, J. Lagoda³³, S. M. Lakshmi³³, M. Mandal³³, P. Mijakowski³³, Y. S. Prabhu³³, J. Zalipska³³, M. Jia³⁴, J. Jiang³⁴, C. K. Jung³⁴, M. J. Wilking³⁴, C. Yanagisawa^34,†, M. Harada³⁵, H. Ishino³⁵, S. Ito³⁵, H. Kitagawa³⁵, Y. Koshio^35,47, W. Ma³⁵, F. Nakanishi³⁵, S. Sakai³⁵, G. Barr³⁶, D. Barrow³⁶, L. Cook^36,47, S. Samani³⁶, D. Wark^36,41, A. Holin³⁷, F. Nova³⁷, J. Y. Yang³⁸, M. Malek³⁹, J. M. McElwee³⁹, O. Stone³⁹, M. D. Thiesse³⁹, L. F. Thompson³⁹, H. Okazawa⁴⁰, S. B. Kim⁴², E. Kwon⁴², J. W. Seo⁴², I. Yu⁴², A. K. Ichikawa⁴³, K. D. Nakamura⁴³, S. Tairafune⁴³, K. Nishijima⁴⁴, M. Koshiba^45,*, K. Iwamoto⁴⁶, K. Nakagiri⁴⁶, Y. Nakajima^46,47, S. Shima⁴⁶, N. Taniuchi⁴⁶, M. Yokoyama^46,47, K. Martens⁴⁷, P. de Perio⁴⁷, M. R. Vagins^47,7, M. Kuze⁴⁸, S. Izumiyama⁴⁸, M. Inomoto⁴⁹, M. Ishitsuka⁴⁹, H. Ito⁴⁹, T. Kinoshita⁴⁹, Y. Ommura⁴⁹, N. Shigeta⁴⁹, M. Shinoki⁴⁹, T. Suganuma⁴⁹, K. Yamauchi⁴⁹, J. F. Martin⁵⁰, H. A. Tanaka⁵⁰, T. Towstego⁵⁰, R. Akutsu⁵¹, V. Gousy-Leblanc^51,‡, M. Hartz⁵¹, A. Konaka⁵¹, X. Li⁵¹, N. W. Prouse⁵¹, S. Chen⁵², B. D. Xu⁵², B. Zhang⁵², M. Posiadala-Zezula⁵³, S. B. Boyd⁵⁴, D. Hadley⁵⁴, M. Nicholson⁵⁴, M. O’Flaherty⁵⁴, B. Richards⁵⁴, A. Ali^55,51, B. Jamieson⁵⁵, Ll. Marti⁵⁶, A. Minamino⁵⁶, G. Pintaudi⁵⁶, S. Sano⁵⁶, S. Suzuki⁵⁶, and K. Wada⁵⁶ (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)

¹Kamioka Observatory, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kamioka, Gifu 506-1205, Japan
²Research Center for Cosmic Neutrinos, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan
³Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan
⁴Department of Theoretical Physics, University Autonoma Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
⁵Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
⁶Department of Physics, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, British Columbia V5G 3H2, Canada
⁷Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-4575, USA
⁸Department of Physics, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California 90747, USA
⁹Institute for Universe and Elementary Particles, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
¹⁰Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
¹¹Ecole Polytechnique, IN2P3-CNRS, Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, F-91120 Palaiseau, France
¹²Junior College, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Fukuoka 811-0295, Japan
¹³Department of Physics, Gifu University, Gifu, Gifu 501-1193, Japan
¹⁴GIST College, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 500-712, Korea
¹⁵Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
¹⁶Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon 34126, Korea
¹⁷Institute For Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Education, ICISE, Quy Nhon 55121, Vietnam
¹⁸Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
¹⁹Dipartimento Interuniversitario di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Bari and Università e Politecnico di Bari, I-70125 Bari, Italy
²⁰Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Napoli and Università di Napoli, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
²¹Dipartimento di Fisica, INFN Sezione di Padova and Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy
²²INFN Sezione di Roma and Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, I-00185 Roma, Italy
²³ILANCE, CNRS—University of Tokyo International Research Laboratory, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan
²⁴Department of Physics, Keio University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 223-8522, Japan
²⁵High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
²⁶Department of Physics, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
²⁷Department of Physics, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
²⁸Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
²⁹Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom
³⁰Department of Physics, Miyagi University of Education, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0845, Japan
³¹Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
³²Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
³³National Centre For Nuclear Research, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
³⁴Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800, USA
³⁵Department of Physics, Okayama University, Okayama, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
³⁶Department of Physics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
³⁷Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Oxford OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
³⁸Department of Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
³⁹Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, S3 7RH Sheffield, United Kingdom
⁴⁰Department of Informatics in Social Welfare, Shizuoka University of Welfare, Yaizu, Shizuoka 425-8611, Japan
⁴¹STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, and Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
⁴²Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea
⁴³Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578, Japan
⁴⁴Department of Physics, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 259-1292, Japan
⁴⁵The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
⁴⁶Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
⁴⁷Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan
⁴⁸Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
⁴⁹Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan
⁵⁰Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada
⁵¹TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T2A3, Canada
⁵²Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
⁵³Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-093, Poland
⁵⁴Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
⁵⁵Department of Physics, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg MB R3J 3L8, Canada
⁵⁶Department of Physics, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan

^*Deceased.
^†Also at BMCC/CUNY, Science Department, New York, New York 1007, USA.
^‡Also at University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy, P.O. Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada.

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Phys. Rev. D 106, 072003 – Published 10 October, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.072003

Abstract

We searched for proton decay via $p \to μ^{+} K^{0}$ in $0.37 Mton \cdot years$ of data collected between 1996 and 2018 from the Super-Kamiokande water Cherenkov experiment. The selection criteria were defined separately for $K_{S}^{0}$ and $K_{L}^{0}$ channels. No significant event excess has been observed. As a result of this analysis, which extends the previous search by an additional $0.2 Mton \cdot years$ of exposure and uses an improved event reconstruction, we set a lower limit of $3.6 \times 10^{33} years$ on the proton lifetime.

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Phys. Rev. D 106, 072003– Published 10 October, 2022

Vol. 106, Iss. 7 — 1 October 2022

Received 28 August 2022
Accepted 16 September 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.072003

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP³.

Published by the American Physical Society

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Search for proton decay via $p \to μ^{+} K^{0}$ in 0.37 megaton-years exposure of Super-Kamiokande

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Search for proton decay via p→μ+K0 in 0.37 megaton-years exposure of Super-Kamiokande

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (34)

Search for proton decay via $p \to μ^{+} K^{0}$ in 0.37 megaton-years exposure of Super-Kamiokande