What is "r-parity"

R-parity is a concept in particle physics. In the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, baryon number and lepton number are no longer conserved by all of the renormalizable couplings in the theory. Since baryon number and lepton number conservation have been tested very precisely, these couplings need to be very small in order not to be in conflict with experimental data. R-parity is a Z symmetry acting on the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) fields that forbids these couplings and can be defined as

P = ( − 1), 

or, equivalently, as

P = ( − 1), 

where s is spin, B is baryon number, and L is lepton number. All Standard Model particles have R-parity of +1 while supersymmetric particles have R-parity of −1.