Gauged Q-ball Decay Rates into Fermions

Abstract

We derive the decay rate of a gauged Q-ball into fermions, applying the leading semi-classical approximation. We find that more particles come out from the surface of a gauged Q-ball, compared to the case of a global Q-ball, due to the electric repulsion. We show that, however, the decay rate of a gauged Q-ball is bounded from above due to the Pauli blocking at the surface of the Q-ball, just as in the case of a global Q-ball. We also find that there is a further suppression due to the Coulomb potential outside the Q-ball, which we find to play the role of a potential barrier for the fermions coming from the inside the Q-ball.