Protons are subatomic particles found inside all the matter we see around us. They are thought of, until recently, to be stable, never decaying into lighter particles. However, newer, more advanced models of particle physics predict they do.
DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) is one experiment looking to find out if proton decay occurs in nature. In some particle physics models, it is expected protons decay into lighter particles, called kaons. DUNE aims to investigate this branch of proton decay.
This investigation aims to deduced whether DUNE is likely to observe proton decay, should it occur in nature, as well as estimates to the potential lifetime of a proton.
If proton decay does occur, it will open the door to a lot of new and exciting particle physics, allowing ever improving descriptions of the fundamental building blocks of the matter we see all around us. Implications of proton decay also have significant impacts in the fields of astrophysics, cosmology and beyond.