Baryon-Number Violation by Two Units and the Deuteron Lifetime

Abstract

We calculate the lifetime of the deuteron with dimension-nine quark operators that violate baryon number by two units. We construct an effective field theory for vertical bar Delta B vertical bar = 2 interactions that give rise to neutron-antineutron (n-(n) over bar) oscillations and dinucleon decay within a consistent power counting. We calculate the ratio of the deuteron lifetime to the square of the oscillation time up to next-to-leading order. Our result, which is analytical and has a quantified uncertainty, is smaller by a factor similar or equal to 2.5 than earlier estimates based on nuclear models, which impacts the indirect bound on the n-(n ) over bar oscillation time and future experiments. We discuss how combined measurements of n-(n) over bar oscillations and deuteron decay can help to identify the sources of baryon-number violation.