Proton Decay and the Quantum Structure of Spacetime

Abstract

Virtual black holes in noncommutative spacetime are investigated using coordinate coherent state formalism such that the event horizon of black hole is manipulated by smearing it with a Gaussian of width $\sqrt{\theta }$, where $\theta$ is the noncommutativity parameter. Proton lifetime, the main associated phenomenology of the noncommutative virtual black holes, has been studied: first in $4$ dimensional spacetime and then generalized to $D$ dimensions. The lifetime depends on $\theta$ and the number of spacetime dimensions such that it emphasizes on the measurement of proton lifetime as a potential probe for the micro-structure of spacetime.

8 pages, 4 figures