Related papers: Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays from earth-based obs…
The origin of Ultra--High Energy ($E \gsim 10^{20}$ eV) Cosmic Rays (UHECR) remains mysterious. I discuss ``top--down'' models, where UHECR originate from the decay of very massive, long--lived particles. I summarize the calculation of the…
The Pierre Auger Observatory aims to determine the nature and origin of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR). The Auger hybrid detector combines fluorescence observations of extended air showers, initiated in the atmosphere by these…
The current status of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray (UHE CR) enigma and several proposed solutions involving particle physics beyond the standard model are discussed. Emphasis is given to top--down models, and as a main example,…
The sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are still one of the main open questions in high-energy astrophysics. If UHECRs are accelerated in astrophysical sources, they are expected to produce high-energy photons and neutrinos…
The origin of the particles in the highest energy end of the cosmic ray spectrum is discussed in the context of the wider problem of the origin of the whole cosmic radiation as observed at the Earth. In particular we focus our attention on…
Large-scale accretion shocks around massive clusters of galaxies, generically expected in the cold dark matter scenario of cosmological structure formation, are shown to be plausible sources of the observed ultrahigh energy cosmic rays…
Observation of clustering of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) suggests that they are emitted by compact sources. Assuming small deflection of UHECR during the propagation, the statistical analysis of clustering allows to estimate the…
The origin and nature of the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are still unknown. However, great progress has been achieved in past years due to the observations performed by the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array. Above…
We investigate whether ultra--high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) may be preferentially produced in massive galaxy clusters, by looking for correlations between UHECR directions and those of x-ray clusters. We find an excess-above-random of…
The energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) provides essential information on the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. Beyond EeV energies, the Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory have the largest exposures…
Recent results from Pierre Auger Observatory, showing energy dependent chemical composition of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with a growing fraction of heavy elements at high energies, suggest a possible non-negligible contribution…
One of the most striking astrophysical phenomena today is the existence of cosmic ray particles with energies in excess of 10^20 eV. While their presence has been confirmed by a number of experiments, it is not clear where and how these…
For several decades, the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) has been an unsolved question of high-energy astrophysics. One approach for solving this puzzle is to correlate UHECRs with high-energy neutrinos, since neutrinos are…
Suppose that even the highest energy cosmic rays (CRs) observed on Earth are protons accelerated in local Milky Way Galaxy sources, with few if any from more distant sources. In this paper we treat the problem that supernovae remnants…
The energy density of the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) in the Universe is a very important parameter for the solution of the puzzle of their origin. It defines the luminosity of the UHECR sources and thus the type of objects they…
The observation of neutrinos from cosmic accelerators will be revolutionary. High energy neutrinos are closely connected to ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and their sources. Cosmic ray sources are likely to produce neutrinos and the…
Understanding the origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) - which reach energies in excess of $10^{20}~{\rm eV}$ - stretches particle acceleration physics to its very limits. In this review, we discuss how such energies can be…
Cosmic rays with energies above $10^{18}$ eV are currently of considerable interest in astrophysics and are to be further studied in a number of projects which are either currently under construction or the subject of well-developed…
We discuss the main results that were recently published by the Auger Collaboration and their impact on our knowledge of the ultra high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have long been considered as candidates of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). We investigate the signatures of CR proton acceleration in the GRBs by consistently taking into account their hadronic and…