X and Y bosons

X± and Y± bosons
CompositionElementary particle
StatisticsBosonic
FamilyGauge boson
StatusHypothetical
Types12
Mass≈ 1015 GeV/c2
Decays intoX: two quarks, or one antiquark and one charged antilepton
Y: two quarks, or one antiquark and one charged antilepton, or one antiquark and one antineutrino
Electric chargeX: ±4/3 e
Y: ±1/3 e
Color chargetriplet or antitriplet
Spin1
Spin states3
Weak isospin projectionX: ±1/2
Y: ∓1/2
Weak hypercharge±5/3
BL±2/3
X0

In particle physics, the X and Y bosons (sometimes collectively called "X bosons"[1]: 437 ) are hypothetical elementary particles analogous to the W and Z bosons, but corresponding to a unified force predicted by the Georgi–Glashow model, a grand unified theory (GUT).

Since the X and Y boson mediate the grand unified force, they would have unusual high mass, which requires more energy to create than the reach of any current particle collider experiment. Significantly, the X and Y bosons couple quarks (constituents of protons and others) to leptons (such as positrons), allowing violation of the conservation of baryon number thus permitting proton decay.

However, the Hyper-Kamiokande has put a lower bound on the proton's half-life as around 1034 years.[2] Since some grand unified theories such as the Georgi–Glashow model predict a half-life less than this, then the existence of X and Y bosons, as formulated by this particular model, remain hypothetical.

  1. ^ Ta-Pei Cheng; Ling-Fong Li (1983). Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-851961-3.
  2. ^ "Proton Decay Searches: Hyper-Kamiokande". www.hyper-k.org. Retrieved 22 September 2020.

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