Related papers: Strangelets in Cosmic Rays
It is argued that strangelets are viable candidates for ultrahigh energy cosmic rays that circumvent the acceleration and energy-loss problems facing protons and nuclei, in spite of concerns raised in a comment by Balberg.
The conjecture that ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are actually strangelets is discussed. Besides the reason that strangelets can do as cosmic rays beyond the GZK-cutoff, another argument to support the conjecture is addressed in…
Strangelets (stable lumps of quark matter) can have masses and charges much higher than those of nuclei, but have very low charge-to-mass ratios. This is confirmed in a relativistic Thomas-Fermi model. The high charge allows astrophysical…
Madsen and Larsen proposed (astro-ph/0211597) that strangelets - stable lumps of strange quark matter (SQM) - are candidates for the highest energy cosmic rays. They point out that the expected properties of strangelets make them easier to…
Searching for strangelets in cosmic rays may be the best way to test the possible stability of strange quark matter. I review calculations of the astrophysical strangelet flux in the GV--TV rigidity range, which will be investigated from…
Assuming that cosmic rays entering the Earth's atmosphere contain a small admixture of nuggets of strange quark matter in form of strangelets one can explain a number of apparently "strange" effects observed in different cosmic rays…
Astrophysical bounds on the properties and abundances of primordial quark nuggets and cosmic ray strangelets are reviewed. New experiments to search for cosmic ray strangelets in lunar soil and from the International Space Station are…
Stable lumps of quark matter may be present in cosmic rays at a flux level, which can be detected by high precision cosmic ray experiments sensitive to anomalous "nuclei" with high mass-to-charge ratio. The properties of these lumps, called…
It is shown that nuggets of strange quark matter may be extracted from the surface of pulsars and accelerated by strong electric fields to high energies if pulsars are strange stars with the crusts, comprised of nuggets embedded in a…
We discuss the possible imprints of Strange Quark Matter (SQM) in cosmic ray data. In particular, we investigate the propagation of SQM through the atmosphere and discuss: i) direct candidates for strangelets, ii) exotic events interpreted…
In the first part of this review we discuss the basic observational features at the end of the cosmic ray energy spectrum. We also present there the main characteristics of each of the experiments involved in the detection of these…
The understanding of the nature of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is one of the most intriguing open questions for current and future observatories. These particles are expected to be accelerated in extragalactic sources. Because of their…
Observations of cosmic rays with energies above ~ 4 x 10^{10} GeV have inspired several speculative suggestions concerning their origin. The crucial question is whether or not the spectrum exhibits the expected `GZK cutoff' at this energy…
If strange quark matter is stable in small lumps, we expect to find such lumps, called ``strangelets'', on Earth due to a steady flux in cosmic rays. Following recent astrophysical models, we predict the strangelet flux at the top of the…
We will discuss the main relevant aspects of the physics of ultra high energy cosmic rays. After a short recap of the experimental evidences, we will review theoretical models aiming at describing the sources of these extremely energetic…
Ultra-high energy cosmic ray experimental data are now of very good statistical significance even in the region of the expected GZK feature. The identification of their sources requires sophisticate analysis of their propagation in 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…
The properties of finite lumps of strange quark matter (strangelets) with emphasis on the two scenarios of producing strange matter in relativistic heavy ion collisions are summarized. As an outlook, the possibility of short-lived strange…
There have been several reports of exotic nuclear fragments, with highly unusual charge to mass ratio, in cosmic ray experiments. Although there exist experimental uncertainties which make them, at best, only candidate "exotic" events, it…
We review the main experimental evidences on ultra high energy cosmic rays and their implications in the physics of these extremely energetic particles, also in connection with dark matter and cosmology. We discuss the basis of theoretical…