Three-body decays of the proton

Abstract

The rates for the three-body proton decays $p\to \pi \pi e^{+}$ are related to the rate for the decay $p\to {\pi }^0{e}^{+}$. This is done by making an ansatz for the form of the three-body amplitude which is consistent with current algebra and with the measured $\pi \pi$ final-state interactions. We find that the three-body decay rates are comparable with the rate for the two-body decay $p\to {\pi }^0{e}^{+}$.