Neutron disappearance inside the nucleus

Abstract

We consider the possibility that a neutron may disappear inside the nucleus, which will demonstrate the existence of baryon violating $ΔB=1$ interactions. It has recently been proposed that such a process may have an effect on the free neutron decay life time. We evaluate the widths for $n\rightarrow χ$ and $n\rightarrow χγ$, with $χ$ being a light dark matter particle emitted by a loosely bound neutron in various light nuclei. We find that, assuming a mass $m_χ$ close to 938 MeV, the obtained width for $n\rightarrow χ$ in $^{11}$Be is much larger than the corresponding beta decay width. This suggests a severe limit on the possible decay channel of $n \rightarrow χγ$ for free neutron.