WHY DON'T PROTONS DECAY?
Why don’t protons decay - and are they truly stable forever?
According to the Standard Model, proton decay is forbidden by baryon number conservation. However, Grand Unified Theories predict that protons may eventually decay, with lifetimes far longer than the current age of the universe.
In this video, we explore what protons are, why they appear so stable, the history of baryon number conservation, the prediction of proton decay in SU(5) Grand Unified Theory, and the decades-long experimental search led by Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande.
We will also look at the future of proton-decay experiments, including Hyper-Kamiokande and DUNE-and why detecting even a single proton decay could open the door to physics beyond the Standard Model.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:10 What Is a Proton, and Why It Matter?
02:13 The Conservation of Baryon Number
05:04 Where Did This Idea Come From?
06:57 GUT: When Theory Predicts Proton Decay
08:57 The Experimental Race
13:44 Super-Kamiokande and the Current Limit
14:55 The Future of Proton-Decay Experiments
15:44 The Deeper Implications
#Physics #ProtonDecay #ParticlePhysics
Music by Vincent Rubinetti
Download the music on Bandcamp:
https://vincerubinetti.bandcamp.com
