2018/08/30 by Zurab Berezhiani, A.I. Vainshtein, Arkady Vainshtein · 23 citations
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced NMR Techniques and Applications #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Baryon #Baryon number #Electroweak interaction #Fermion #Homogeneous space #MAJORANA #Neutron #Nuclear physics #Operator (biology) #Parity (physics) #Particle physics #Physics #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #Quark #hep-ph #hep-th
paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2018.11.014
published in Physics Letters B 788, 58-64 (Elsevier BV) · 8 pages, 2 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1506.05096
arxiv created 2018/08/30 · openalex publication_date 2018/11/15 · arxiv updated 2018/11/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We analyze status of C , P and T discrete symmetries in application to neutron–antineutron transitions breaking conservation of baryon charge B by two units. At the level of free particles all these symmetries are preserved. This includes P reflection in spite of the opposite internal parities usually ascribed to neutron and antineutron. Explanation, which goes back to the 1937 papers by E. Majorana and by G. Racah, is based on a definition of parity satisfying P 2 = − 1 , instead of P 2 = 1 , and ascribing P = i to both, neutron and antineutron. We apply this to C , P and T classification of six-quark operators with | Δ B | = 2 . It allows to specify operators contributing to neutron–antineutron oscillations. Remaining operators contribute to other | Δ B | = 2 processes and, in particular, to nuclei instability. We also show that presence of external magnetic field does not induce any new operator mixing the neutron and antineutron provided that rotational invariance is not broken.