Neutron Dark Decay

Abstract

There exists a puzzling disagreement between the results for the neutron lifetime obtained in experiments using the beam technique versus those relying on the bottle method. A possible explanation of this discrepancy postulates the existence of a beyond-Standard-Model decay channel of the neutron involving new particles in the final state, some of which can be dark matter candidates. We review the current theoretical status of this proposal and discuss the particle physics models accommodating such a dark decay. We then elaborate on the efforts undertaken to test this hypothesis, summarizing the prospects for probing neutron dark decay channels in future experiments.

22 pages, 6 figures; Invited review for the journal Universe

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Probing Dark Sectors with Neutron Stars
• Search for a neutron dark decay in ${}^6$He
• Matter-antimatter asymmetry and dark matter stability from baryon number conservation
• Suppression of composition $g$-modes in chemically-equilibrating warm neutron stars
• Shedding Light on Dark Sectors with Gravitational Waves
• Particles in finite volumes and a toy model of decaying neutrons