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New Paradigm for Baryon and Lepton Number Violation

The possible discovery of proton decay, neutron-antineutron oscillation, neutrinoless beta decay in low energy experiments, and exotic signals related to the violation of the baryon and lepton numbers at collider experiments will change our understanding of the conservation of fundamental symmetries in nature. In this review we discuss the rare processes due to the existence of baryon and lepton number violating interactions. The simplest grand unified theories and the neutrino mass generation mechanisms are discussed. The theories where the baryon and lepton numbers are defined as local gauge symmetries spontaneously broken at the low scale are discussed in detail. The simplest supersymmetric gauge theory which predicts the existence of lepton number violating processes at the low scale is investigated. The main goal of this review is to discuss the main implications of baryon and lepton number violation in physics beyond the Standard Model.