Published January 21, 2002 | Version v1
Journal article

The high energy cosmic ray spectrum from relic particle decay

Description

It has been speculated that the recently detected ultra-high energy cosmic rays may originate from the decays of relic particles with mass of order 1012 GeV clustered in the halo of our Galaxy. This hypothesis can be tested through forthcoming measurements of the spectra of both high energy cosmic nucleons and neutrinos, which are determined in this model by the physics of QCD fragmentation, with no astrophysical uncertainties. We evolve fragmentation spectra measured at LEP energies up to the scale of the decaying particle mass by numerical solution of the DGLAP equations. This enables incorporation of the effects of supersymmetry on the development of the cascade and we also allow for decays into many-particle states. The calculated spectral shape agrees well with present cosmic ray data beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin energy

Additional details

Identifiers

PII
S055032130100565X;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Nuclear Physics. B
Journal Volume
621
Journal Issue
1-2
Journal Page Range
p. 495-520
ISSN
0550-3213
CODEN
NUPBBO

Optional Information

Copyright
Copyright (c) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.