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Might the proton decay in other places or at other times?

Phys Org
Summary
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88% Informative

Proton has a mean lifetime of about 1034 years , but that's 20 orders of magnitude greater than the age of the universe.

Two physicists have been wondering: Could the proton have decayed faster in the past? Could it decay faster somewhere else in the universe? They have reimagined some physics processes assuming proton does decay and calculated possible lifetimes of around 1018 years .

Hooman Davoudiasl says a hypothetical long-range force can affect the mass of a new particle into which a proton can decay.

There is an abundance of sources for this hypothesized force, which can change near the solar system as the sun orbits the Milky Way center every 230 million years .