EFT Pathways to $|\Delta B| =2$: Chiral Constructions and Phenomenology

Abstract

We develop a systematic effective field theory framework for studying $|\Delta B|=2$ interactions across energy scales. Using chiral symmetry, we construct the complete and non-redundant set of operators governing these interactions at low energies and establish their connection to the corresponding operators in the Standard Model effective field theory, as well as to their realizations in baryon chiral perturbation theory. The framework is then applied to the phenomenology of baryon-antibaryon oscillations and dinucleon decay. While oscillations probe only a limited subset of operator structures, dinucleon decay is sensitive to a significantly broader class, including transitions that are otherwise inaccessible. In addition, we identify previously unexplored dinucleon decay channels, which can probe these unconstrained regions of parameter space. More generally, this formalism makes explicit the complementarity of different probes and provides a consistent way to trace baryon-number-violating effects from their ultraviolet origin to low-energy hadronic observables, thereby providing a basis for systematic studies of ultraviolet models generating such interactions.