Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and new particle physics

by M. KACHELRIESS (CERN)

Thursday 19 Oct 2000, 14:00 → 14:15 Europe/Zurich

TH Auditorium (CERN)

The observation of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff at E ~ 5 . 10¹⁹ eV represents a serious challenge to conventional astrophysical acceleration mechanisms of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHE CR). After a brief review of the experimental data and possible astrophysical sources, I focus on explanations involving particle physics beyond the SM. As a main example, I discuss supermassive dark matter as galactic source for UHE CR and the status of its experimental signatures: galactic anisotropy, clustering and chemical composition. Finally, I discuss if UHE neutrinos can -- either directly or indirectly -- be responsible for the observed UHE CR events.