Question
This limit is surpassed by rare “extreme-energy” particles. For 10 points each:
[10h] Identify this upper energy limit approximately equal to 5×1019 electron volts. Particles above this limit lose energy via the production of pions formed by the decay of a delta resonance.
ANSWER: GZK limit [accept GZK cutoff; accept Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin limit or cutoff]
[10m] One notable particle with energy above the GZK limit was this cosmic ray detected in 1991. With an energy of 51 Joules, roughly the same as a 60 mph baseball, it is currently the highest energy cosmic-ray ever recorded.
ANSWER: Oh-My-God particle
[10e] The GZK limit is derived by assuming cosmic rays lose energy through scattering interactions with photons from this body. This largest blackbody in the universe has a temperature around 2.7 Kelvin.
ANSWER: CMBR [accept cosmic microwave background radiation]
<Science - Physics>
Summary
| 2024 ARGOS @ Chicago | 11/23/2024 | Y | 6 | 18.33 | 100% | 67% | 17% |
| 2024 ARGOS @ Christ's College | 12/14/2024 | Y | 3 | 13.33 | 100% | 33% | 0% |
| 2024 ARGOS @ Columbia | 11/23/2024 | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 67% | 67% | 33% |
| 2024 ARGOS @ McMaster | 11/17/2024 | Y | 5 | 14.00 | 60% | 60% | 20% |
| 2024 ARGOS @ Stanford | 02/22/2025 | Y | 3 | 16.67 | 100% | 33% | 33% |
Data
| Defying Suavity | Cambridge | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz | Cien Años de Quizboledad | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Simple Vibes | Limp Francekit | 0 | 10 | 10 | 20 |