Monopole catalysis of baryon decay

Curtis Gove Callan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

152 Scopus citations

Abstract

In the presence of magnetic monopoles, the baryon-number-violating effecs of grand unified gauge theories are not suppressed by inverse powers of the unification mass. As a result, monopoles catalyse proton decay at rates typical of the strong interactions. This phenomenon is caused by boundary conditions which must be imposed on fermion fields at the monopole core. They mix quarks and leptons and cause the monopole to have indefinite baryon number. We present a simplified account of these phenomena as well as their implications for proton decay and monopole search experiments.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)391-400
Number of pages10
JournalNuclear Physics, Section B
Volume212
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 28 1983

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

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