At any epoch, particle physics must be open to completely unexpected discoveries, and that is reason enough to extend the reach of searches for ultra-high energy (UHE) photons. The observation of a population of photons with energies $E\gtrsim 100\mathrm{EeV}$ would for example imply the existence of either a completely new physical phenomena, or particle acceleration mechanisms heretofore never seen or imagined. But as we outline in this Letter of Interest, there are also good arguments for super-heavy dark matter (SHDM) in a parameter range such that it could be discovered via its decays to, in particular, UHE photons. Only ultra-high energy cosmic ray observatories have capabilities to detect UHE photons. We first investigate how current and future observations can probe and constrain SHDM models in important directions, and then outline some of the scenarios that motivate such searches. We also discuss connections between constraints on SHDM and on the parameter values of cosmological models.

在任何时代，粒子物理学都必须对完全出乎意料的发现持开放态度，这足以扩大对超高能 (UHE) 光子的搜索范围。观察具有能量的光子群$乙\gtrsim 100\mathrm{电动车}$例如，这意味着存在一种全新的物理现象，或者迄今为止从未见过或想象过的粒子加速机制。但正如我们在这封意向书中概述的那样，超重暗物质 (SHDM) 在参数范围内也有很好的论据，因此可以通过其衰变特别是 UHE 光子来发现它。只有超高能宇宙射线天文台才有能力探测到 UHE 光子。我们首先研究当前和未来的观察如何在重要方向上探测和约束 SHDM 模型，然后概述一些激发此类搜索的场景。我们还讨论了 SHDM 约束与宇宙模型参数值之间的联系。