Related papers: Constraints from cosmic rays on non-systematic Lor…
Very high-energy astrophysical gamma rays suffer a suppression of their flux along their propagation due to their interaction, through the $\gamma\gamma\to e^+e^-$ pair-production process, with the soft photon backgrounds present in the…
Using simulation methods, distortion effects on energy spectra caused by errors in the energy determination have been investigated. For cosmic ray proton spectra, falling steeply with kinetic energy E as E-2.7, significant effects appear.…
In this work, we use Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) introduced as a generic modification to particle dispersion relations to study some consequences of single photon emission, known as vacuum Cherenkov radiation, and photon decay…
This article reviews many of the observational constraints on Lorentz symmetry violation (LV). We first describe the GZK cutoff and other phenomena that are sensitive to LV. After a brief historical sketch of research on LV, we discuss the…
In these lectures we review the constraints on particle physics models arising from cosmic defects. This includes constraints on theories where stable cosmic string loops, or vortons result. These can arise in supersymmetric theories. We…
It is not yet clear whether the observed flux suppression for ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) at energies above \simeq 4.10E19 eV is a signature of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff or corresponds, for instance, to the maximum…
To date, a significant effort has been made to adddress the Lorentz violating standard model in low-energy systems, but little is known about the ramifications for high-energy cross sections. In this talk, I discuss the modified Feynman…
Lorentz invariance is a well known fundamental concept of special relativity but its violation is predicted by some variations of quantum gravity, string theory, and some alternatives to general relativity. We study neutrino oscillation at…
Astrophysical observations are a powerful tool to constrain effects of Lorentz-invariance violation in the photon sector. Objects at high redshifts provide the longest possible baselines, and gamma-ray telescopes allow us to observe some of…
We discuss physical constrains that observations of high brightness temperature coherent radio emission, with brightness temperatures as high as $T_b \sim 10^{35}$ K, impose on the plasma parameters at relativistically moving astrophysical…
Using the propagation of ultra high energy nucleons, photons and electrons in the universal radiation backgrounds, we obtain limits on the luminosity of topological defects scenarios for the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays. The…
Violations of Lorentz boost symmetry in the electron and photon sectors can be constrained by studying several different high-energy phenomenon. Although they may not lead to the strongest bounds numerically, measurements made in…
We investigate the propagation of a charged particle in a spatially constant but time dependent pseudoscalar background. Physically this pseudoscalar background could be provided by a relic axion density. The background leads to an explicit…
An extensive program for the calculation of galactic cosmic-ray propagation has been developed. Primary and secondary nucleons, primary and secondary electrons, secondary positrons and antiprotons are included. Fragmentation and energy…
Recent observations of Ultra High Energy Cosmic rays suggest a small violation of Lorentz symmetry. Such a violation is expected in schemes with discrete/quantized spacetime. We examine this situation and suggest tests which could be…
High-energy astrophysics observations provide the best possibilities to detect a very small violation of Lorentz invariance, such as may be related to the structure of space-time near the Planck scale. I discuss the possible signatures of…
We investigate the cosmological consequences of particle physics theories that admit stable loops of superconducting cosmic string - {\it vortons}. General symmetry breaking schemes are considered, in which strings are formed at one energy…
We discuss the threshold anomaly in ultra-high energy cosmic ray physics by assuming that the matter world just be perturbation of a de Sitter universe, which is consistent with the recent astronomical observations: about two thirds of the…
Synchrotron radiation from cosmic rays is a key observational probe of the galactic magnetic field. Interpreting synchrotron emission data requires knowledge of the cosmic ray number density, which is often assumed to be in energy…
The effect of quantum gravity can bring a tiny light speed variation which is detectable through energetic photons propagating from gamma ray bursts (GRBs) to an observer such as the space observatory. Through an analysis of the energetic…