Do the SM gauge forces unify into a single group?
In plain words
The strengths of the three forces change with energy and nearly meet near $10^{16}\, \mathrm{GeV}$. Whether they truly become one force is unknown.
Precise statement
Determine whether SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) embeds in a simple group ($\mathrm{SU}(5), \mathrm{SO}(10), \mathrm{E6}$) broken near $M_{\mathrm{GUT}} \sim 10^{15}\ \text{to}\ 10^{16}\,\mathrm{GeV}$. In the SM the three couplings do not meet at a point; in the MSSM they meet at $\sim 2 \times 10^{16}\,\mathrm{GeV}$. An answer is an observation of a unification-specific effect such as proton decay with a branching pattern fixed by the group.
What would settle it
Detection of proton decay in one or more channels with branching ratios matching a specific GUT.
Problems built on this one
Special cases
- Does the proton decay to an antineutrino and a kaon? · open
- Is the proton lifetime to $e+ \pi0$ below $10^{35}\,\mathrm{years}$? · open
Results
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