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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.18722 |
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| _version_ | 1866917363979386880 |
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| author | Bell, Nicole F. Cox, Peter Newstead, Jayden L. Verde, Michael B. G. |
| author_facet | Bell, Nicole F. Cox, Peter Newstead, Jayden L. Verde, Michael B. G. |
| contents | The neutron portal operator provides a theoretically motivated connection between the visible and dark sectors and features in several well-studied asymmetric dark matter models. This operator leads to dark matter induced nucleon decays that mimic the experimental signature of "ordinary" nucleon decays. In this work, we reinterpret Super-Kamiokande nucleon decay searches for $n \rightarrow π^0 ν$ and $p \rightarrow π^+ ν$ to constrain dark matter induced nucleon decays. For GeV-scale dark matter, we obtain lower bounds of $\mathcal{O}(1~\rm{TeV})$ on the scale of the effective neutron portal operator. We also discuss the prospects for future searches at Hyper-Kamiokande and highlight the importance of a dedicated experimental analysis with reduced systematic uncertainties. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_18722 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Dark Matter Induced Nucleon Decay Through the Neutron Portal Bell, Nicole F. Cox, Peter Newstead, Jayden L. Verde, Michael B. G. High Energy Physics - Phenomenology The neutron portal operator provides a theoretically motivated connection between the visible and dark sectors and features in several well-studied asymmetric dark matter models. This operator leads to dark matter induced nucleon decays that mimic the experimental signature of "ordinary" nucleon decays. In this work, we reinterpret Super-Kamiokande nucleon decay searches for $n \rightarrow π^0 ν$ and $p \rightarrow π^+ ν$ to constrain dark matter induced nucleon decays. For GeV-scale dark matter, we obtain lower bounds of $\mathcal{O}(1~\rm{TeV})$ on the scale of the effective neutron portal operator. We also discuss the prospects for future searches at Hyper-Kamiokande and highlight the importance of a dedicated experimental analysis with reduced systematic uncertainties. |
| title | Dark Matter Induced Nucleon Decay Through the Neutron Portal |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.18722 |