Related papers: Ultra-high energy cosmic rays and new physics
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…
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…
Cosmic high energy neutrinos are inextricably linked to the origin of cosmic rays which is one of the major unresolved questions in astrophysics. In particular, the highest energy cosmic rays observed possess macroscopic energies and their…
Resonant photopion production with the cosmic microwave background predicts a suppression of extragalactic protons above the famous Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff at about E_{GZK} ~ 5 x 10^10 GeV. Current cosmic ray data measured by the…
This is a summary of a series of lectures on the current experimental and theoretical status of our understanding of origin and nature of cosmic radiation. Specific focus is put on ultra-high energy cosmic radiation above ~10^17 eV,…
The observation of cosmic--ray events above the Greisen-Kuzmin-Zatsepin (GZK) cutoff of $\sim 5\times 10^{19}$ eV challenges orthodox modeling. We discuss a possible solution which uses standard hot Big Bang cosmology and Standard Model…
The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays remains an enigma. They offer a window to new physics, including tests of physical laws relevant to their propagation and interactions, at energies unattainable by terrestrial accelerators. They…
Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) pose a problem either for particle physics or for astrophysics (or for both) by the unexpectedly high number of cosmic ray showers observed with energy above about 5x10^{19}eV, the…
The search for the origin of cosmic rays is a quest of almost a hundred years. A recent theoretical proposal gives quantitative predictions, which can be tested with data. Specifically, it has been suggested, that all cosmic rays can be…
High energy cosmic rays allow probing phenomena that are inacessible to accelerators. Observation of cosmic rays, presumebly protons, with energies beyond $4 \times 10^{19} eV$, the so-called Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cut-off, give…
Contrary to expectations, several cosmic ray events with energies above $10^{20}$ eV have been observed. The flux of such events is well above the predicted Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff due to the pion production (via the $\Delta$…
Origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays is an unsolved problem. Several proposals such as Z-burst, decay of super massive matter, susy particles as a primary, neutrino as a primary in extra dimension models exist in the literature which try…
The energy spectrum, composition and arrival directions of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energy above the cosmic ray ankle, measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory, are inconsistent if their origin is assumed to be…
The origin and nature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray events, above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff energy, constitute a long-standing, unsolved mistery. Neutrinos are proposed candidates but their standard interactions with matter…
A fundamental question that can be answered in the next decade is: WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE HIGHEST ENERGY COSMIC PARTICLES? The discovery of the sources of the highest energy cosmic rays will reveal the workings of the most energetic…
Astronomy at the highest energies observed must be performed by studying neutrinos rather than photons because the universe is opaque to photons of these energies. By making observations of neutrinos with energies above 10 EeV one can…
I give a brief discussion of possible sources of high energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin over the energy range from $\sim 10^{12}$ eV to $\sim 10^{25}$ eV. In particular I shall review predictions of the diffuse neutrino intensity.…
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…
Scattering processes in the cosmic microwave background limit the propagation of ultra high energy charged particles in our Universe. For extragalactic proton sources resonant photopion production results in the famous…
Relic neutrinos with mass 0.07 (+0.02/-0.04) eV, in the range consistent with Super-Kamiokande data, can explain the cosmic rays with energies in excess of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff. The spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays…