Proton decay [was: Are atoms 'perpetual machines'?]

[ice109]

don't all atoms decay? don't even protons decay?

 

[Varnick]

To my knowledge, a proton decay has never been observed, and the two theories are either "They do not decay" or "They decay, but have a very long half-life".

V

 

[Defennder]

If protons are to decay, what do they decay to?

 

[pallidin]

One theory suggests that a proton, if it decays at all, decays into a positron and a neutral pion that itself then decays into 2 gamma ray photons. And apparently, other decay scenarios are possible. I read that in WiKi, but not sure how accurate I translated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_decay