Neutrinos and the Highest Energy Cosmic Rays

Antoine Letessier-Selvon

Published 2000-09-26Version 1

Observation of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) -whose energy exceeds $10^20$eV- is still a puzzle for modern astrophysics. The transfer of more than 16 Joules to a microscopic particle can hardly be achieved, even in the most powerful cosmic accelerators such as AGN's, GRB's or FR-II radio galaxy lobes. Potential sources must also lie within 100 Mpc of the Earth as the interaction length of protons, nuclei or photons is less than 10Mpc. However no visible counterpart of those sources has been observed. Calling upon new physics such as Topological Defect interactions or Super Massive Relic Particle decays is therefore very tempting, but such objects are yet to be proven to exist. Due to the very low flux of UHECR only very large dedicated experiments, such as the Auger observatories, will allow to shed some light on the origin of those cosmic rays. In this quest neutrinos, if they can be detected, are an invaluable messengers of the nature of the sources.