Search for proton decay via p → e + π 0 π 0 and p → μ + π 0 π 0 in 0.401 megaton-years exposure of Super-Kamiokande I-V

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We searched for proton decay via p → e + π 0 π 0 and p → μ + π 0 π 0 in 0.401 megaton-years of data collected in all pure water detector phases of Super-Kamiokande (SK) I-V. A theoretical study predicts proton decay rates without assuming a particular grand unified theory and suggests that three-body proton decays involving two pions can have decay rates comparable to those of p → e + π 0 and p → μ + π 0 . This is the first search for proton decay into a charged antilepton and two neutral pions in SK. One data candidate event was found for each of the two decay modes, which is compatible with the expected atmospheric neutrino background. We set lower limits on the lifetime of τ / B ( p → e + π 0 π 0 ) > 7.2 × 10 33 and τ / B ( p → μ + π 0 π 0 ) > 4.5 × 10 33 year at 90% confidence level. These limits are more than one order of magnitude better than those of the previous experiment.

Source: Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

DOI: 10.1103/frxr-pk3t

Authors: K. Abe, S. Abe, Y. Asaoka, M. Harada, Y. Hayato, K. Hiraide, T. H. Hung, K. Hosokawa, K. Ieki, M. Ikeda, J. Kameda, Y. Kanemura, R. Kaneshima, Y. Kashiwagi, Y. Kataoka, S. Miki, S. Mine, M. Miura, S. Moriyama, K. Nakagiri, M. Nakahata, S. Nakayama, Y. Noguchi, G. Pronost, K. Okamoto, K. Sato, H. Sekiya, H. Shiba, K. Shimizu, R. Shinoda, M. Shiozawa, Y. Sonoda, Y. Suzuki, A. Takeda, Y. Takemoto, A. Takenaka, H. Tanaka, T. Yano, S. Chen, Y. Itow, T. Kajita, R. Nishijima, K. Okumura, T. Tashiro, T. Tomiya, X. Wang, S. Yoshida, P. Fernandez, L. Labarga, D. Samudio, B. Zaldivar, F. G. Garay, B. W. Pointon, C. Yanagisawa, B. Jargowsky, E. Kearns, J. Mirabito, J. L. Raaf, L. Wan, T. Wester, J. Bian, B. Cortez, N. J. Griskevich, Y. Jiang, S. Locke, M. B. Smy, H. W. Sobel, V. Takhistov, H. G. Berns, J. Hill, M. C. Jang, S. H. Lee, D. H. Moon, R. G. Park, B. S. Yang, B. Bodur, K. Scholberg, C. W. Walter, A. Beauchêne, O. Drapier, A. Ershova, M. Ferey, A. Giampaolo, Z. Hu, E. Le Blévec, Th. A. Mueller, A. D. Santos, P. Paganini, C. Quach, R. Rogly, T. Nakamura, J. S. Jang, R. P. Litchfield, L. N. Machado, F. J. P. Soler, J. G. Learned, K. Choi, N. Iovine, S. Cao, L. H. V. Anthony, D. Martin, N. W. Prouse, M. Scott, A. A. Sztuc, Y. Uchida, V. Berardi, N. F. Calabria, M. G. Catanesi, N. Ospina, E. Radicioni, A. Langella, G. De Rosa, G. Collazuol, M. Feltre, F. Iacob, M. Mattiazzi, L. Ludovici, M. Gonin, L. Périssé, B. Quilain, M. Fukazawa, C. Fujisawa, S. Horiuchi, A. Kawabata, M. Kobayashi, Y. M. Liu, Y. Maekawa, Y. Nishimura, A. Oka, R. Okazaki, R. Akutsu, M. Friend, T. Hasegawa, Y. Hino, T. Ishida, T. Kobayashi, M. Jakkapu, T. Matsubara, T. Nakadaira, K. Nakamura, Y. Oyama, A. Portocarrero Yrey, K. Sakashita, T. Sekiguchi, T. Tsukamoto, N. Bhuiyan, G. T. Burton, F. Di Lodovico, J. Gao, A. Goldsack, T. Katori, R. Kralik, N. Latham, J. Migenda, R. M. Ramsden, V. Siccardi, S. Zsoldos, S. Aoyama, H. Bambara, H. Ito, T. Sone, A. T. Suzuki, Y. Takagi, Y. Takeuchi, S. Wada, H. Zhong, M. Nishigami, Y. Inaba, J. Feng, L. Feng, S. Han, J. Hikida, J. R. Hu, M. Kawaue, T. Kikawa, T. Nakaya, T. V. Ngoc, R. A. Wendell, K. Yasutome, S. J. Jenkins, N. McCauley, P. Mehta, A. Tarrant, M. Fanì, M. J. Wilking, Z. Xie, Y. Fukuda, H. Menjo, K. Ninomiya, Y. Yoshioka, J. Lagoda, M. Mandal, P. Mijakowski, J. Zalipska, M. Mori, M. Jia, J. Jiang, C. K. Jung, W. Shi, K. Hamaguchi, H. Ishino, Y. Koshio, F. Nakanishi, S. Sakai, T. Tada, T. Tano, Y. Asano, S. Ohshita, T. Ishizuka, G. Barr, D. Barrow, L. Cook, S. Samani, D. Wark, A. Holin, F. Nova, M. Jo, S. Jung, J. Y. Yang, J. Yoo, J. E. P. Fannon, L. Kneale, M. Malek, J. M. McElwee, T. Peacock, P. Stowell, M. D. Thiesse, L. F. Thompson, S. T. Wilson, H. Okazawa, S. M. Lakshmi, S. Hong, S. B. Kim, E. Kwon, M. W. Lee, J. W. Seo, I. Yu, Y. Ashida, A. K. Ichikawa, K. D. Nakamura, S. Tairafune, A. Eguchi, S. Goto, H. Hayasaki, S. Kodama, Y. Kong, Y. Masaki, Y. Mizuno, T. Muro, M. Sekiyama, T. Yamazumi, Y. Nakajima, S. Shima, N. Taniuchi, E. Watanabe, M. Yokoyama, P. de Perio, S. Fujita, C. Jesús-Valls, K. Martens, Ll. Marti, K. M. Tsui, M. R. Vagins, J. Xia, M. Kuze, S. Izumiyama, R. Matsumoto, K. Terada, R. Asaka, M. Ishitsuka, C. Ise, Y. Ommura, N. Shigeta, M. Shinoki, M. Sugo, M. Wako, K. Yamauchi, T. Yoshida, Y. Nakano, A. Yankelevich, F. Cormier, R. Gaur, V. Gousy-Leblanc, M. Hartz, A. Konaka, X. Li, B. R. Smithers, S. Chen, Y. Wu, B. D. Xu, A. Q. Zhang, B. Zhang, H. Adhikary, M. Girgus, P. Govindaraj, M. Posiadala-Zezula, Y. S. Prabhu, S. B. Boyd, R. Edwards, D. Hadley, M. Nicholson, M. O’Flaherty, B. Richards, A. Ali, B. Jamieson, S. Amanai, C. Bronner, D. Horiguchi, A. Minamino, Y. Sasaki, R. Shibayama, R. Shimamura, S. Suzuki

Institutions: The University of Tokyo, University of California System, Tsinghua University, Nagoya University, Tokai University, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, TRIUMF, British Columbia Institute of Technology, New York University, Stony Brook University, Boston University, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, University of California, Davis, California State University System, Chonnam National University, Duke University, Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Gifu University, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, University of Glasgow, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Hawaii System, Institute for Basic Science, Imperial College London, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, Polytechnic University of Bari, University of Padua, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I, Sapienza University of Rome, Keio University, Tohoku University, King's College London, Kobe University, Kyoto University, University of Liverpool, University of Minnesota, Miyagi University of Education, National Centre for Nuclear Research, Okayama University, Osaka Electro-Communication University, University of Oxford, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Seoul National University, University of Sheffield, Shizuoka University of Welfare, University of Silesia in Katowice, Sungkyunkwan University, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo University of Science, University of Toyama, University of Warsaw, University of Warwick, The University of Winnipeg, Yokohama National University

Language: English

Topic: Neutrino Physics Research

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

OpenAlex ID: W7154345937