Question

How long can a proton-antiproton pair exist without violating the principle of the conservation of mass?

Answer 1

Proton-antiproton pairs can exist temporarily due to the creation of virtual particles, but these virtual particles have a very short duration. GUTs predict that the proton should be unstable and decay with an extremely long lifetime of about 10^31 years, violating the conservation of baryon number.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the context of Grand Unified Theories (GUTs), the proton is predicted to be unstable and decay with an extremely long lifetime of about 10^31 years. This decay violates the conservation of baryon number, but it has not been detected experimentally. Proton-antiproton pairs can exist temporarily due to the creation of virtual particles, but these virtual particles have a very short duration corresponding to very small ranges.

Answer 2

Anti proton are short lived anti-particles of protons that has a charge of -1. When they encounter their counter part, which is the proton, they exist for a short span of time only since they will be annihilated and burst into a form of energy.