Decay of isolated nucleons and electrons via gravitational pair production

Determine whether a single isolated nucleon or a free electron can decay via gravitational curvature-induced pair production as formulated using covariant perturbation theory for a massless scalar field in spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat spacetimes, in the absence of any macroscopic compact-object environment.

Background

The paper analyzes gravitational curvature-induced pair production in asymptotically flat, spherically symmetric spacetimes and applies it to compact stellar remnants modeled as constant-density objects. The computed emission is extremely low-energy for macroscopic bodies, leading to very long evaporation timescales, but it raises questions about decay mechanisms at microscopic scales.

In discussing implications at the level of individual particles, the authors note that the rest-mass energy of a baryon vastly exceeds the energy lost per pair-production event and speculate about potential lower-energy couplings (e.g., sea quarks or phonons). They explicitly state that it is unclear whether an isolated nucleon or electron can decay through this mechanism.