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Non-Canonical Nucleon Decays as Window into Light New Physics

Published 21 Dec 2023 in hep-ph and hep-ex | (2312.13740v2)

Abstract: Nucleon decays are generic predictions of motivated theories, including those based on the unification of forces and supersymmetry. We demonstrate that non-canonical nucleon decays offer a unique opportunity to broadly probe light new particles beyond the Standard Model with masses below $\sim$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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