Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays from Decaying Superheavy Particles

We consider the advantages of and the problems associated with hypotheses to explain the origin of ulthrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECR: E > 10 EeV) and the "trans GZK" cosmic rays (TGZK: E > 100 EeV), both through "old physics" (acceleration in cosmic sources) and "new physics" (new particles, topological defects, fat neutrino cross sections, Lorentz invariance violation).

It is commonly accepted that high energy cosmic rays up to $10^{19}$ eV can be produced in catastrophic astrophysical processes. However the source of a few observed events with higher energies remains mysterious. We propose that they may originate from decay or annihilation of ultra heavy particles of dark matter. Such particles naturally appear in some models of modified gravity related to Starobinsky inflation.

Cosmic ray particles with energies in excess of 10**(20) eV have been detected. The sources as well as the physical mechanism(s) responsible for endowing cosmic ray particles with such enormous energies are unknown. This report gives a review of the physics and astrophysics associated with the questions of origin and propagation of these Extremely High Energy (EHE) cosmic rays in the Universe. After a brief review of the observed cosmic rays in general and their possible sour...

Recently, models proposing superheavy particles $X$ as source of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays have attracted some interest. The $X$-particles are either metastable relic particles from the early Universe or are released by topological defects. In these models, the detected air-showers are produced by primaries originating from the fragmentation of the $X$-particles. We present the fragmentation spectrum of superheavy particles calculated in SUSY-QCD. Then we discuss the statu...

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 particles opening a window on the highest energies universe. We will discuss the production of secondary particles and the possible tests of new physics that ultra high energy cosmic rays could provide.

Stable, quantized gravitational bound states of primordial black holes called Holeums could have been produced in the early universe and could be a component of the Super Heavy Dark Matter (SHDM) present in galactic halos. We show that Holeums of masses of the order of 10**13 to 10**14 GeV and above are stable enough to survive in the present-day universe. We identify such Holeums as promising candidates for the SHDM "X-particle" and show that the decay of such Holeums by pre...

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 models aiming at explaining observations, highlighting the most relevant open questions in this fascinating field of research.

The origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs, $E>10^{18}$ eV) is still uncertain. However, great progress has been achieved due to the data taken by The Pierre Auger and Telescope Array observatories. The UHECR flux presents two main features, a hardening of the spectrum known as the ankle and a suppression at higher energies. The experimental data suggest that above the ankle the UHECRs flux is dominated by an extragalactic component of astrophysical origin. Howev...

In this thesis, I describe in great detail the physics of the decay of any Super-Heavy X particle (with masses up to the grand unification scale ~ 10^16 GeV and possibly beyond), and the computer code I developed to model this process - which currently is the most complete available one. The general framework for this work is the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The results are presented in the form of fragmentation functions of any (s)particle of the MSSM into a...

The origin of cosmic ray events with $E \gsim 10^{11}$ GeV remains mysterious. In this talk I briefly summarize several proposed particle physics explanations: a breakdown of Lorentz invariance, the ``$Z-$burst'' scenario, new hadrons with masses of several GeV as primaries, and magnetic monopoles with mass below $10^{10}$ GeV as primaries. I then describe in a little more detail the idea that these events are due to the decays of very massive, long--lived exotic particles.