Primordial black holes as a source of extremely high energy cosmic rays
arXiv:astro-ph/9907347 · doi:10.1016/S0927-6505(99)00103-6
Abstract
The origin of observed extremely high energy cosmic rays remains an astrophysical enigma. We show that a single evaporating primordial black hole should produce 8.5*10^14 particles over a 10^20 eV threshold. This emission results from direct production of fundamental constituants and from hadronization of quarks and gluons. The induced flux on the Earth is studied as a function of the local density of exploding black holes and compared with experimental data. The discovery potential of future detectors is finally reviewed.
Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics