Ultra-high energy cosmic rays from super-heavy X particle decay

Abstract

In this talk, I present the last and more precise results obtained in the computation of the final spectra of stable particles issued from the decay of super-heavy X particles (M_X ~ 10^21 to 10^25 eV). Such very energetic decay products, carrying a fraction of the mass of the X particle, are believed to be a plausible explanation for the observed ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR). Combining these results with X-particle models and with a code describing the propagation effects for UHECRs through the interstellar medium, it becomes possible to make some predictions on the fluxes expected on Earth, hopefully detectable in the next generation of experiments.