Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays from topological defects—cosmic strings, monopoles, necklaces, and all that

Abstract

The topological defect scenario of origin of the observed highest energy cosmic rays is reviewed. Under a variety of circumstances, topological defects formed in the early Universe can be sources of very massive particles in the Universe today. The decay products of these massive particles may be responsible for the observed highest energy cosmic ray particles above $10^{20}$ eV. Some massive particle production processes involving cosmic strings and magnetic monopoles are discussed. We also discuss the implications of results of certain recent numerical simulations of evolution of cosmic strings. These results (which remain to be confirmed by independent simulations) seem to show that massive particle production may be a generic feature of cosmic strings, which would make cosmic strings an inevitable source of extremely high energy cosmic rays with potentially detectable flux. At the same time, cosmic strings are severely constrained by the observed cosmic ray flux above $10^{20}$ eV, if massive particle radiation is the dominant energy loss mechanism for cosmic strings.