Proton Decay in Supersymmetric GUT Models

Abstract

The instability of protons is a crucial prediction of supersymmetric GUTs. We review the decay in minimal supersymmetric SU(5), which is dominated by dimension-five operators, and discuss the implications of the failure of Yukawa unification for the decay rate. In a consistent SU(5) model, where SU(5) relations among Yukawa couplings hold, the proton decay rate can be several orders of magnitude smaller than the present experimental bound. Finally, we discuss orbifold GUTs, where proton decay via dimension-five operators is absent. The branching ratios of dimension-six decay can significantly differ from those in four dimensions.