Published November 1, 2019 | Version v1
Journal article

Ultra high energy cosmic rays from super-heavy dark matter in the context of large exposure observatories

  • 1. Instituto de Tecnologías en Detección y Astropartículas (CNEA, CONICET, UNSAM), Centro Atómico Constituyentes, San Martin, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
  • 2. Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Circuito Exteriror S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, México D.F. 04510, México (Mexico)

Description

The origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs, E>1018 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. However, a minority component of exotic origin that dominates the flux beyond the suppression is still compatible with current data. Therefore, there exist the possibility that part of the UHECR flux originates from the decay of super-heavy dark matter particles clustered in the halos of the galaxies. In these scenarios the main contribution comes from the halo of our galaxy. In this article the possibility of identifying these scenarios in the context of the future very large exposure cosmic rays observatories is studied. It is worth mentioning that the contribution of the extragalactic halos located in the nearby universe is also included in these studies.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2019/11/036

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Journal Volume
2019
Journal Issue
11
Journal Page Range
p. 036
ISSN
1475-7516

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
51065160
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
ASTROPHYSICS; COSMIC RADIATION; GALAXIES; PARTICLE DECAY; SPECTRA; TELESCOPES; UNIVERSE
Descriptors DEC
DECAY; IONIZING RADIATIONS; PHYSICS; RADIATIONS