Description
Authors: Yohei Ema, Robert McGehee, Maxim Pospelov
Presenter: Robert McGehee
Abstract: WIMP-type dark matter may have additional interactions that break baryon number, leading to induced nucleon decays which are subject to direct experimental constraints from proton decay experiments. In this talk, we analyze a possibility of continuous baryon destruction, deriving strong limits from the dark matter accumulating inside old neutron stars, as such a process leads to excess heat generation. We construct the simplest particle dark matter model that breaks baryon and lepton numbers separately but conserves B − L. Virtual exchange by DM particles in this model results in di-nucleon decay via nn → nν¯ and np → ne+ processes.
