Connection between relic neutrinos and cosmic rays at > or approx. 10{sup 20} eV?

Journal Article · Mon Oct 19 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.56587· OSTI ID:21202124

Weiler, Thomas J ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235 (United States)

The observation of cosmic-ray events above the Greisen-Kuzmin-Zatsepin (GZK) cutoff of 5x10{sup 19} eV challenges orthodox modeling. We discuss a possible solution which uses Standard Model (SM) physics augmented only by < or approx. eV neutrino masses as suggested by solar, atmospheric, and terrestrial neutrino detection and the cosmological preference for a hot dark matter component. In this scheme, cosmic ray neutrinos from distant, highest-energy sources annihilate relatively nearby on the relic-neutrino background to produce 'Z-bursts', highly-collimated, highly-boosted ({gamma}{sub Z}{approx}10{sup 11}) hadronic jets. From the SM and hot Big Bang cosmology, the probability for each neutrino flavor at its resonant energy to annihilate within the halo of our galactic supercluster is likely within an order of magnitude of 1%. The kinematics of the annihilation are completely determined by the neutrino masses and the properties of the Z boson. The burst energy is E{sub R}=4 (eV/m{sub {nu}})x10{sup 21} eV, and the burst content includes, on average, thirty photons and 2.7 nucleons with super-GZK energies. Several tests of the neutrino annihilation hypothesis are indicated.

• OSTI ID: 21202124
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 444; ISSN 0094-243X; ISSN APCPCS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ANNIHILATION
COSMIC NEUTRINOS
COSMIC PHOTONS
COSMOLOGY
EEV RANGE
FLAVOR MODEL
JET MODEL
NEUTRINO DETECTION
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
REST MASS
STANDARD MODEL
WEINBERG-SALAM GAUGE MODEL
Z NEUTRAL BOSONS