Cosmic Topological Defects, Highest Energy Cosmic Rays, and the Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe

Cosmic topological defects in a wide class of supersymmetric theories can simultaneously be sources of higgs particles of mass comparable to the supersymmetry breaking scale $\sim$ TeV, as well as superheavy gauge bosons of mass $\sim\eta$, where $\eta$ (>> 1 TeV) denotes the associated gauge symmetry breaking scale. For cosmic strings with $\eta\sim 10^{14}$ GeV, the higgs decay can account for the extragalactic diffuse gamma ray background above $\sim$ 10 GeV, while the gau...

We present an overview on extreme energy cosmic rays (EECR) and the fundamental physics connected with them. The top-down and bottom-up scenarii are contrasted. We summarize the essential features underlying the top-down scenarii for EECR, namely, the lifetime and the mass {\bf imposed} to the heavy relics whatever they be: topological and non-topological solitons, X-particles, cosmic defects, microscopic black-holes, fundamental strings. An unified formula for the quantum de...

While several arguments can be proposed against the existence of particles with energy in excess of $(3-5)\times 10^{19}$ eV in the cosmic ray spectrum, these particles are actually observed and their origin seeks for an explanation. After a description of the problems encountered in explaining these ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) in the context of astrophysical sources, we will review the so-called {\it Top-Down} (TD) Models, in which UHECRs are the result of the dec...

We have refined our previously suggested scenario of generation of the cosmological baryon asymmetry through an asymmetric capture of baryons and antibaryons by primordial block hole arXiv:2009.04361. It is found that in the limit of weak interactions of hypothetical heavy baryons with the primeval plasma the effect can be strongly enhanced and the observed magnitude of the asymmetry can be obtained for a wide range of the model parameters.

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.

We argue that due to various restrictions cosmic strings and monopole-string networks are not likely to produce the observed flux of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR). Among the topological defects studied so far, the most promising UHECR sources are necklaces and monopolonia. Other viable sources which are similar to topological defects are relic superheavy particles. All these sources have an excess of pions (and thus photons) over nucleons at production. We demonstrate...

The origin of Ultra--High Energy ($E \gsim 10^{20}$ eV) Cosmic Rays (UHECR) remains mysterious. I discuss ``top--down'' models, where UHECR originate from the decay of very massive, long--lived particles. I summarize the calculation of the spectrum of decay products, discuss possible problems with this scenario, and describe ways to test it by searching for very energetic neutrinos and neutralinos.

The current status of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) is reviewed, with emphasis given to theoretical interpretation of the observed events. The galactic and extragalactic origin, in case of astrophysical sources of UHE particles, have the problems either with acceleration to the observed energies or with the fluxes and spectra. Topological defects can naturally produce particles with energies as observed and much higher, but in most cases fail to produce the observed f...

Cryptons, metastable bound states of matter in the string hidden sector, with dynamically determined masses M_X on the order of 10^{12} GeV and lifetimes tau_X greater than or on the order of 10^{18} yr, may be generated, through inflation, with an abundance close to that required for a near-critical universe. Their decay debris may be responsible for the most energetic particles striking Earth's atmosphere. Recent developments of this astonishing hypothesis are reviewed, ind...

Historically cosmic rays have always been at the intersection of astrophysics with particle physics. This is still and especially true in current days where experimenters routinely observe atmospheric showers from particles whose energies reach macroscopic values up to about 50 Joules. This dwarfs energies achieved in the laboratory by about eight orders of magnitude in the detector frame and three orders of magnitude in the center of mass. While the existence of these highes...