Catalyzed nucleon decay in neutron stars

Savas Dimopoulos, John Preskill, Frank Wilczek

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Scopus citations

Abstract

We consider the effect in neutron stars of nucleon decay catalyzed by grand unified monopoles. Invoking observational limits on the diffuse ultraviolet and X-ray background, we obtain a bound on the product of the cross section σ for the catalysis process and the interstellar monopole flux Φ, 〈σβ〉 Φ {less-than or approximate} 10-27cm2 × 10-25cm-2s-1sr-1. If, as Rubakov and Callan have recently suggested, 〈σβ〉 is a typical strong interaction cross section, then this bound is stronger by nine orders of magnitude than previous limits on the monopole flux.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)320-322
Number of pages3
JournalPhysics Letters B
Volume119
Issue number4-6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1982
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

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