Related papers: Quark Matter Induced Extensive Air Showers
Despite the significant experimental effort made in the last decades, the origin of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays is still largely unknown. Key astrophysical information to identify where these energetic particles come from is provided…
The composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is still poorly known and constitutes a very important topic in the field of high-energy astrophysics. Detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is carried out via the extensive air showers…
Although various pieces of indirect evidence about the nature of dark matter have been collected, its direct detection has eluded experimental searches despite extensive effort. If the mass of dark matter is below 1 MeV, it is essentially…
Air shower simulation programs are essential tools for the analysis of data from cosmic ray experiments and for planning the layout of new detectors. They are used to estimate the energy and mass of the primary particle. Unfortunately the…
The presence of quark matter in neutron stars may affect several neutron star observables and the neutrino signal in core-collapse supernovae. These observables are sensitive to the phase of quark matter that is present in compact objects.…
Axion quark nuggets (AQNs) are macroscopic dark-matter candidates, with masses of the order of a few grams to a kilogram and sub-micron radius, thought to form at the Quantum Chromo Dynamic era through axion-induced charge separation. This…
Motivated by some recent cosmic ray experiments we study the properties of strange quark matter near flavour equilibrium. Using Fermi-gas model we argue that, contrary to some claims, the geometrical radii of quark matter strangelets are…
We argue that the superheavy gravitinos that we had previously proposed as candidates for Dark Matter can offer a possible explanation for the ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) events observed at the Pierre Auger Observatory, via…
Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are the highest energy messengers in the universe, with energies up to $10^{20}$ eV. Studies of astrophysical particles (nuclei, electrons, neutrinos and photons) at their highest observed energies…
The origin and nature of the highest energy cosmic ray events is currently the subject of intense investigation by giant air shower arrays and fluorescent detectors. These particles reach energies well beyond what can be achieved in…
Orbiting detectors will be able to observe showers initiated by neutrinos penetrating the Earth and interacting close to their exit point. There is a correlation between the impact parameter of the incident neutrino and its energy. We study…
The vacuum is filled with complex scalar fields, such as the Higgs field. These fields serve as order parameters for superfluidity (quantum phase coherence over macroscopic distances), making the entire universe a superfluid. We review a…
The Pierre Auger Observatory, the world's largest cosmic ray detector, plays a pivotal role in exploring the frontiers of physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. By the observation of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, Auger…
The goal of the Pierre Auger Observatory is to determine the still unknown nature and origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The study of these elusive particles probes astrophysical sites of particle acceleration as well as fundamental…
A key step towards the understanding of the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is their mass composition. Primary photons and neutrinos produce markedly different showers from nuclei, while showers of different nuclear species are not…
In its Phase I, the Pierre Auger Observatory has led to several observations, driving the field of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) research over the last 20 years. Major achievements obtained so far include the unprecedented precise…
We review theoretically well-motivated dark-matter candidates, and pathways to their discovery, in the light of recent results from collider physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. Taken in aggregate, these encourage broader thinking in…
The fluorescence technique has been successfully used to detect ultrahigh energy cosmic rays by indirect measurements. The underlying idea is that the number of charged particles in the atmospheric shower, i.e, its longitudinal profile, can…
In this work we explore the possibility that the formation of Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) during the first interactions of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) may result in observable signatures in ground profile and shower particle…
In this work we estimate the heavy quark production in the interaction of ultra high energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere, considering that the primary cosmic ray is a proton or a photon. At these energies the saturation momentum Q_{sat}^2…