20 research outputs found
Large Scale Magnetic Fields and the Number of Cosmic Ray Sources above 10^(19) eV
We present numerical simulations for the two-point correlation function and
the angular power spectrum of nucleons above 10^{19} injected by a discrete
distribution of sources following a simple approximation to the profile of the
Local Supercluster. We develop a method to constrain the number of sources
necessary to reproduce the observed sky distribution of ultra-high energy
cosmic rays, as a function of the strength of the large scale cosmic magnetic
fields in the Local Supercluster. While for fields B < 0.05 micro Gauss the
Supercluster source distribution is inconsistent with the data for any number
of sources, fields of strength B~0.3 micro Gauss could reproduce the observed
data with a number of sources around 10.Comment: 10 latex pages, 17 postscript figures include
Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays from Neutrino Emitting Acceleration Sources?
We demonstrate by numerical flux calculations that neutrino beams producing
the observed highest energy cosmic rays by weak interactions with the relic
neutrino background require a non-uniform distribution of sources. Such sources
have to accelerate protons at least up to 10^{23} eV, have to be opaque to
their primary protons, and should emit the secondary photons unavoidably
produced together with the neutrinos only in the sub-MeV region to avoid
conflict with the diffuse gamma-ray background measured by the EGRET
experiment. Even if such a source class exists, the resulting large
uncertainties in the parameters involved in this scenario does currently not
allow to extract any meaningful information on absolute neutrino masses.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX styl
Extragalactic Sources for Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Nuclei
In this article we examine the hypothesis that the highest energy cosmic rays
are complex nuclei from extragalactic sources. Under reasonable physical
assumptions, we show that the nearby metally rich starburst galaxies (M82 and
NGC 253) can produce all the events observed above the ankle. This requires
diffusion of particles below eV in extragalactic magnetic fields nG. Above eV, the model predicts the presence of
significant fluxes of medium mass and heavy nuclei with small rate of change of
composition. Notwithstanding, the most salient feature of the
starburst-hypothesis is a slight anisotropy induced by iron debris just before
the spectrum-cutoff.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. D, reference adde
The clustering of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and their sources
The sky distribution of cosmic rays with energies above the 'GZK cutoff'
holds important clues to their origin. The AGASA data, although consistent with
isotropy, shows evidence for small-angle clustering, and it has been argued
that such clusters are aligned with BL Lacertae objects, implicating these as
sources. It has also been suggested that clusters can arise if the cosmic rays
come from the decays of very massive relic particles in the Galactic halo, due
to the expected clumping of cold dark matter. We examine these claims and show
that both are in fact not justified.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, version in press at Phys. Rev.
Anisotropy at the end of the cosmic ray spectrum?
The starburst galaxies M82 and NGC253 have been proposed as the primary
sources of cosmic rays with energies above eV. For energies \agt
10^{20.3} eV the model predicts strong anisotropies. We calculate the
probabilities that the latter can be due to chance occurrence. For the highest
energy cosmic ray events in this energy region, we find that the observed
directionality has less than 1% probability of occurring due to random
fluctuations. Moreover, during the first 5 years of operation at Auger, the
observation of even half the predicted anisotropy has a probability of less
than to occur by chance fluctuation. Thus, this model can be subject
to test at very small cost to the Auger priors budget and, whatever the outcome
of that test, valuable information on the Galactic magnetic field will be
obtained.Comment: Final version to be published in Physical Review
Nearby quasar remnants and ultra-high energy cosmic rays
As recently suggested, nearby quasar remnants are plausible sites of
black-hole based compact dynamos that could be capable of accelerating
ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). In such a model, UHECRs would originate
at the nuclei of nearby dead quasars, those in which the putative underlying
supermassive black holes are suitably spun-up. Based on galactic optical
luminosity, morphological type, and redshift, we have compiled a small sample
of nearby objects selected to be highly luminous, bulge-dominated galaxies,
likely quasar remnants. The sky coordinates of these galaxies were then
correlated with the arrival directions of cosmic rays detected at energies EeV. An apparently significant correlation appears in our data. This
correlation appears at closer angular scales than those expected when taking
into account the deflection caused by typically assumed IGM or galactic
magnetic fields over a charged particle trajectory. Possible scenarios
producing this effect are discussed, as is the astrophysics of the quasar
remnant candidates. We suggest that quasar remnants be also taken into account
in the forthcoming detailed search for correlations using data from the Auger
Observatory.Comment: 2 figures, 4 tables, 11 pages. Final version to appear in Physical
Review
Relic neutrino masses and the highest energy cosmic rays
We consider the possibility that a large fraction of the ultrahigh energy
cosmic rays are decay products of Z bosons which were produced in the
scattering of ultrahigh energy cosmic neutrinos on cosmological relic
neutrinos. We compare the observed ultrahigh energy cosmic ray spectrum with
the one predicted in the above Z-burst scenario and determine the required mass
of the heaviest relic neutrino as well as the necessary ultrahigh energy cosmic
neutrino flux via a maximum likelihood analysis. We show that the value of the
neutrino mass obtained in this way is fairly robust against variations in
presently unknown quantities, like the amount of neutrino clustering, the
universal radio background, and the extragalactic magnetic field, within their
anticipated uncertainties. Much stronger systematics arises from different
possible assumptions about the diffuse background of ordinary cosmic rays from
unresolved astrophysical sources. In the most plausible case that these
ordinary cosmic rays are protons of extragalactic origin, one is lead to a
required neutrino mass in the range 0.08 eV - 1.3 eV at the 68 % confidence
level. This range narrows down considerably if a particular universal radio
background is assumed, e.g. to 0.08 eV - 0.40 eV for a large one. The required
flux of ultrahigh energy cosmic neutrinos near the resonant energy should be
detected in the near future by AMANDA, RICE, and the Pierre Auger Observatory,
otherwise the Z-burst scenario will be ruled out.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figures, REVTeX