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Astrophysical probes of unification

Asimina Arvanitaki, Savas Dimopoulos, Sergei Dubovsky, Peter W. Graham, Roni Harnik, and Surjeet Rajendran
Phys. Rev. D 79, 105022 – Published 26 May 2009
Physics logo See Viewpoint: Observing unification on a grand scale

Abstract

Traditional ideas for testing unification involve searching for the decay of the proton and its branching modes. We point out that several astrophysical experiments are now reaching sensitivities that allow them to explore supersymmetric unified theories. In these theories the electroweak-mass dark matter particle can decay, just like the proton, through dimension 6 operators with lifetime 1026s. Interestingly, this time scale is now being investigated in several experiments including ATIC, PAMELA, HESS, and Fermi. Positive evidence for such decays may be opening our first direct window to physics at the supersymmetric unification scale of MGUT1016GeV, as well as the TeV scale. Moreover, in the same supersymmetric unified theories, dimension 5 operators can lead a weak-scale superparticle to decay with a lifetime of 100s. Such decays are recorded by a change in the primordial light element abundances and may well explain the present discord between the measured Li abundances and standard big bang nucleosynthesis, opening another window to unification. These theories make concrete predictions for the spectrum and signatures at the LHC as well as Fermi.

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  • Received 23 February 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.79.105022

©2009 American Physical Society

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Observing unification on a grand scale

Published 26 May 2009

New connections have been made between experimental astrophysical signatures and theories that unify the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces, called grand unified theories.

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Authors & Affiliations

Asimina Arvanitaki1,2, Savas Dimopoulos3, Sergei Dubovsky3,4, Peter W. Graham3, Roni Harnik3, and Surjeet Rajendran5,3

  • 1Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2Theoretical Physics Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
  • 4Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary Prospect, 7a, 117312 Moscow, Russia
  • 5SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

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Issue

Vol. 79, Iss. 10 — 15 May 2009

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