Grand Unification and B & L Conservation

Abstract

A review of baryon and lepton conservation in supersymmetric grand unified theories is given. Proton stability is discussed in the minimal SU(5) supergravity grand unification and in several non-minimal extensions such as the $SU(3)^3$, SO(10) and some string based models. Effects of dark matter on proton stability are also discussed and it is shown that the combined constraints of dark matter and proton stability constrain the sparticle spectrum. It is also shown that proton lifetime limits put severe constraints on the event rates in dark matter detectors. Future prospects for the observation of baryon and lepton number violation are also discussed.