Minimal SO(10) grand unification at next-to-leading order

Abstract

We comment on the status and prospects of the minimal non-supersymmetric renormalizable SO(10) grand unified model. We emphasize its unique predictive power owing to the particular robustness of the gauge unification pattern to the leading-order Planck-scale effects which, in turn, makes it essentially the only unified framework in which the proton lifetime may be estimated with better than the leading order precision. This, together with the frequent presence of light-scale exotics accessible, in principle, at future colliders, is the key to its potential testability at the upcoming megaton-scale facilities such as Hyper-Kamiokande or LENA.