Particle Physics Seminar, 3 Oct. 2001

Particle Physics Seminar

Date: Wednesday 21st November 2001

Title: Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays and New Physics

Speaker: Dr. Subir Sarkar (Oxford)

Abstract
The possibility that the Fermi scale is the only fundamental energy scale of Nature is under serious consideration at present, yet cosmic rays may already have provided direct evidence of new physics at a much higher energy scale. The recently detected ultra high energy particles beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff may originate from the slow decays of massive relic particles clustered in the halo of our Galaxy. Such particles had been predicted to exist beforehand with mass and lifetime in the range required to explain the observations. I will discuss recent work focussing on experimental tests of this speculative but exciting idea.

Particle Physics Seminars take place in room B02, Physics West, on Wednesdays at 1315, unless listed otherwise. Tea, coffee and biscuits are served at 1300.