Proton and neutron decay rates in conventional and supersymmetric guts

We present a general calculation of the two-body decay rates of the nucleon, for the most general form of four-fermion ΔB = ΔL operators, in the framework of the SU(6) non-relativistic quark model. We have applied our general formulas to Higgs mediated decays in conventional and in supersymmetric SU(5) models. Lower bounds upon the exchanged particles masses are given. We point out that the hierarchies of branching ratios in decays mediated by Higgs bosons are different from those of gauge boson decay modes (in the former case, neutrinos modes are dominant). We give, in conclusion, an experimental way to distinguish non-supersymmetric GUTs from supersymmetric ones, if the nucleon decays via Higgs bosons.