Higher order proton lifetime estimates in grand unified theories

TL;DR

This paper discusses precise proton lifetime estimates in grand unified theories, focusing on an SO(10) model that avoids certain uncertainties, enabling more accurate two-loop calculations.

Contribution

It introduces an SO(10) GUT model where leading Planck-suppressed operators are absent, allowing for more precise two-loop proton lifetime predictions.

Findings

Two-loop precision in proton lifetime estimates is achievable in the proposed model.

The model reduces theoretical uncertainties from higher-dimensional operators.

Proton decay predictions can be made more reliably with this approach.

Abstract

Since the main experimentally testable prediction of grand unified theories is the instability of the proton, precise determination of the proton lifetime for each particular model is desirable. Unfortunately, the corresponding computation usually involves theoretical uncertainties coming e.g. from ignorance of the mass spectrum or from the Planck-suppressed higher-dimensional operators, which may result in errors in the proton lifetime estimates stretching up to several orders of magnitude. On the other hand, we present a model based on SO(10) gauge group which is subsequently broken by a scalar adjoint representation, where the leading Planck-suppressed operator is absent, hence the two-loop precision may be achieved.