Related papers: Future prospects of testing Lorentz invariance wit…
In this report we review the important progress made in recent years towards understanding the experimental data on ultra-high-energy ($E \gtrsim 10^9$ GeV) cosmic rays. We begin with a general survey of the available data, including a…
We present the results of simulations of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) propagation in the Galactic magnetic field (GMF). Different assumptions on the large-scale GMF structure and/or primary particle lead to distinctly different…
The unified models of astrophysical sources to account for ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and high-energy cosmic neutrinos with energies greater than 100 TeV have been discussed. Based on model-independent arguments, we argue that if…
Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) introduced as a generic modification to particle dispersion relations can change the photon energy threshold of pair-production, which modifies the expected gamma-ray flux from astrophysical sources. In…
Data from multiple experiments suggest that the current interaction models used in Monte Carlo simulations do not correctly reproduce the hadronic interactions in air showers produced by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR), in particular…
Cosmic rays (CRs) are protons and atomic nuclei that flow into our Solar system and reach the Earth with energies of up to ~10^21 eV. The sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with E >~ 10^19 eV remain unknown, although there…
Cosmic rays have extremely high particle energies (up to $10^{20} \; \text{eV}$) and can be used to search for violations of Lorentz invariance. We consider isotropic nonbirefringent Lorentz violation in the photon sector for the case of a…
I further test the theory that the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR) is made of photons with a weak U(1) component. Tipler (2005) has previously argued that the consistency of the Standard Model (SM) with the Second Law of Thermodynamics…
A striking concentration of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) events observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory around the direction of the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A revives the idea that radio galaxies may be dominant sources of…
The study of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) at Earth cannot prescind from the study of their propagation in the Universe. In this paper, we present HERMES, the \emph{ad hoc} Monte Carlo code we have developed for the realistic…
Searches for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics are performed at accelerators worldwide. Although having poorer detection capabilities and large beam uncertainties, ultra high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) experiments present…
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,…
We review the hypothesis that the acceleration of protons at internal shocks in Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) could be the origin of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) observed at earth, E_max > 10^19 eV. We find that, even though protons…
Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) arrive at Earth from the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. They collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere with energies about ten times higher than any man-made accelerator,…
Space-based experiments, either orbiting the Earth or from scientific balloon altitudes, measure high-energy cosmic rays by measuring from above the atmosphere the optical and radio signals generated by extensive air showers (EAS). These…
We revisit the neutrino and ultra high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) production from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with time-dependent simulations for the proton-induced cascades. This method can generate self-consistent photon, neutrino and escaped…
We have calculated the probability that the clustering of arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is consistent with a finite number of uniformly distributed proton sources. The case of a continuous source distribution…
Significant progress has been made over the past decades towards unveiling the sources of the most energetic particles in nature, the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). Despite these advancements, the exact astrophysical sites capable…
The sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) have been stubbornly elusive. However, the latest report of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides a compelling indication for a possible correlation between the arrival directions of…
Observations of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECR) do not uniquely determine both the injection spectrum and the evolution model for UHECR sources - primarily because interactions during propagation obscure the early Universe from direct…