Connection between relic neutrinos and cosmic rays at [approx gt]10[sup 20]; eV

Conference · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · AIP Conference Proceedings

OSTI ID:6326983

Weiler, T J ^[1]

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

The observation of cosmic-ray events above the Greisen[endash]Kuzmin[endash]Zatsepin (GZK) cutoff of 5[times]10[sup 19] hthinsp;eV challenges orthodox modeling. We discuss a possible solution which uses Standard Model (SM) physics augmented only by [approx lt] 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 [open quotes]Z-bursts[close quotes], highly-collimated, highly-boosted ([gamma][sub Z][approximately]10[sup 11]) hadronic jets. iquest;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[percent]. The kinematics of the annihilation are completely determined by the neutrino masses and the properties of the [ital Z] boson. The burst energy is E[sub R]=4 hthinsp;(eV/m[sub [nu]])[times]10[sup 21] hthinsp;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. [copyright] [ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.]

• DOE Contract Number: FG02-85ER40226
• OSTI ID: 6326983
• Report Number(s): CONF-980455--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Volume: 444:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661300* -- Other Aspects of Physical Science-- (1992-)
662320 -- Neutrino Interactions-- (1992-)
662430 -- Properties of Leptons-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
BARYONS
BOSONS
COSMIC NEUTRINOS
COSMIC PROTONS
COSMIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
HADRONS
INTERMEDIATE BOSONS
INTERMEDIATE VECTOR BOSONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NEUTRINO OSCILLATION
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE MODELS
PEV RANGE
PROTONS
RADIATIONS
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
UNIFIED-FIELD THEORIES
WEINBERG-SALAM GAUGE MODEL
Z NEUTRAL BOSONS