Proton decay in locally supersymmetric GUT

Abstract

Proton decay is studied in the supergravity model with “the hidden sector” as the source of supersymmetry breaking. Each dimension-five operator is found to accompany ΔB ≠ 0 four-scalar interactions. The Higgs fermion exchange for loop diagrams at low energies can be as important as the gauge fermion exchange, if the associated Yukawa coupling is significant as suggested by the radiatively induced SU(2) × U(1) breaking mechanism. The experimental bound for p → K 0 μ + gives the lower bound of the order of 10 16 GeV for the mass of the baryon-number violating Higgs particle.