Proton decay in a minimal SUSY SO(10) model for neutrino mixings

A minimal renormalizable SUSY SO(10) model with B-L symmetry broken by 126 Higgs field has recently been shown to predict all neutrino mixings and the ratio Δm²_ȯ/Δm²_A in agreement with observations. Unlike models where B-L is broken by 16 Higgs, this model guarantees automatic R-parity conservation and hence a stable dark matter as well as the absence of dim=4 baryon violating operator without any additional symmetry assumptions. In this paper, we discuss the predictions of the model for proton decay induced at the GUT scale. We scan over the parameter space of the model allowed by neutrino data and find upper bounds on the partial lifetime for the modes τ(n→π⁰ν̄)= 2τ(p→π⁺ν̄)≤(5.7-13)×10³² yrs and τ(n→K⁰ν̄)≤2.97×10³³ yrs for the average squark mass of a TeV and wino mass of 200 GeV, when the parameters satisfy the present lower limits on τ(p→K⁺ν̄) mode. These results can be used to test the model.