Superluminal Matter and High-Energy Cosmic Rays

Abstract

High-energy cosmic ray events present important challenges to particle astrophysics. Their nature and origin are often not well understood and, as they occur in an energy domain not accessible to particle accelerators, there is no clear guide to their interpretation. We recently proposed a new, non-tachyonic, possible class of superluminal particles which may play an important cosmological role. In this note, we would like to point out that such particles, if they exist, are able to produce very high energy cosmic rays compatible with discoveries reported in the literature.