Related papers: Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays and Absolute Referen…
A model is introduced, in which the irregularity spectrum of the Galactic magnetic field beyond the dissipation length scale is first a Kolmogorov spectrum $k^{-5/3}$ at small scales $\lambda \, = \, 2 \pi/k$ with $k$ the wave-number, then…
We explore scenarios where the highest energy cosmic rays (HECR) are produced by new particle physics near the grand unification scale. Using detailed numerical simulations of extragalactic cosmic and gamma-ray propagation, we show the…
We will review the main physical aspects of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays. We will discuss in particular their propagation through astrophysical backgrounds, focusing on the latest experimental observations of HiRes, Telescope Array and…
In the last years a general consensus has emerged on the use of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) data as a powerful probe of the validity of special relativity. This applies in particular to the propagation of cosmic rays from their…
The detection of the GZK feature in the cosmic ray spectrum, resultingfrom the production of pions by ultra-high energy protons scattering off the cosmic microwave background (CMB), can shed light on the mysterious sources of these high…
The wealth of data collected in the last few years thanks to the Pierre Auger Observatory and recently to the Telescope Array made the problem of the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays a genuinely experimental/observational one. The…
If textbook Lorentz invariance is actually a property of the equations describing a sector of the excitations of vacuum above some critical distance scale, several sectors of matter with different critical speeds in vacuum can coexist and…
There are two main sets of data for the observed spectrum of ultra high energy cosmic rays (those cosmic rays with energies greater than $\sim 4 \times 10^{18}$ eV), the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) collaboration group observations,…
Under the assumption that some part of the observed highest energy cosmic rays consists of protons originating from cosmological distances, we derive bounds on the associated flux of neutrinos generated by inelastic processes with the…
The existence of cosmic rays of energies exceeding 10^20 eV is one of the mysteries of high energy astrophysics. The spectrum and the high energy to which it extends rule out almost all suggested source models. The challenges posed by…
The origin of highest energy cosmic rays is yet unknown. An appealing possibility is the so-called Z-burst scenario, in which a large fraction of these cosmic rays are decay products of Z bosons produced in the scattering of ultrahigh…
Although the Universe is far from understood, we are fairly confident about some key features: Special Relativity (SR) describes the kinematics of inertial frames; General Relativity (GR) explains gravitation; the Universe had a beginning…
A disturbing aspect of Hawking's derivation of black hole radiance is the need to invoke extreme conditions for the quantum field that originates the emitted quanta. It is widely argued that the derivation requires the validity of the…
The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays represents one of the most conspicuous enigmas of modern astrophysics, in spite of gigantic experimental efforts in the past fifty years, and of active theoretical research. The past decade has…
We consider a cosmic ray spectrum that is a power law in momentum down to a cutoff and derive a lower cutoff corresponding to $E_{kin} \sim (30-60)$ MeV from the observed ionization rates in nearby diffuse clouds. While the real spectra of…
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays are mostly charged particles and they are therefore deflected by magnetic fields on their path from their sources to Earth. An interesting phenomenon arising from these deflections is the appearance of multiple…
This article presents a simple model that reproduces key concepts of modern cosmology within the framework of special relativity, at a level that is suitable for an undergraduate or high school setting. The model includes cosmic expansion…
This is a review of neutrino astronomy anchored to the observational fact that Nature accelerates protons and photons to energies in excess of $10^{20}$ and $10^{13}$ eV, respectively. Although the discovery of cosmic rays dates back close…
Recent advances in measuring and interpreting cosmic rays from the spectral ankle to the highest energies are briefly reviewed. The prime question at the highest energies is about the origin of the flux suppression observed at E ~ 4x10^{19}…
The status of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff and pair-production dip in Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) is discussed.They are the features in the spectrum of protons propagating through CMB radiation in extragalactic space,…