Cosmic-ray knee and flux of secondaries from interactions of cosmic rays with dark matter

Abstract

We discuss possible implications of a large interaction cross section between cosmic rays and dark matter particles due to new physics at the TeV scale. In particular, in models with extra dimensions and a low fundamental scale of gravity the cross section grows very fast at transplanckian energies. We argue that the knee observed in the cosmic ray flux could be caused by such interactions. We show that this hypothesis implies a well defined flux of secondary gamma rays that seems consistent with MILAGRO observations.