Eric Mayotte Wuppertal

The sensitivity of the Pierre Auger Observatory to non-ultra-relativistic Cosmic Ray like events.

Extensive Air Showers must, by their nature, be produced by parent particles with extremely high kinetic energies. This, by relativistic necessity, therefore requires the showers themselves to evolve with a correspondingly high Lorentz factor. There are, however, theoretical particles with interaction mechanisms capable of depositing enough energy in the atmosphere to trigger a cosmic ray observatory without requiring an ultra-relativistic parent particle. By searching for these slow cosmic rays like events, the theories that predict their existence can be tested and limited or, potentially, supported by observation with a low background. The basic methods needed to search for these slow evolving events using the Pierre Auger Observatory fluorescence and surface detectors will be presented along with a brief discussion on theory, future perspectives and research ideas.