499 research outputs found
Cosmic ray propagation in the local superbubble
It is suggested that a ring of HI gas lying in the galactic plane is part of a supershell which formed some 3 x to the 7th power years ago. The consequences of a closed magnetic supershell for cosmic ray propagation are examined and it is concluded that there is no evidence which precludes the production and trapping of cosmic rays in such a region. A consequence of superbubble confinement is that the mean age of cosmic rays would be independent of energy. This can be tested by high energy observations of the isotopic composition of Be
Computation of Mass Outflow Rate from Relativistic Quasi-Spherical Accretion onto Black Holes
We compute mass outflow rate from relativistic matter accreting
quasi-spherically onto Schwarzschild black holes. Taking the pair-plasma
pressure mediated shock surface as the {\it effective} boundary layer (of the
black hole) from where bulk of the outflow is assumed to be generated,
computation of this rate is done using combinations of exact transonic inflow
and outflow solutions. We find that depends on the initial
parameters of the flow, the polytropic index of matter, the degree of
compression of matter near the shock surface and on the location of the shock
surface itself. We thus not only study the variation of the mass outflow rate
as a function of various physical parameters governing the problem but also
provide a sufficiently plausible estimation of this rate.Comment: 6 twocoloumn pages with 5 figures. mn.sty used. Accepted for
publication in MNRA
TenTen: A New Array of Multi-TeV Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes
The exciting results from H.E.S.S. point to a new population of gamma-ray
sources at energies E > 10 TeV, paving the way for future studies and new
discoveries in the multi-TeV energy range. Connected with these energies is the
search for sources of PeV cosmic-rays (CRs) and the study of multi-TeV
gamma-ray production in a growing number of astrophysical environments. TenTen
is a proposed stereoscopic array (with a suggested site in Australia) of
modest-sized (10 to 30m^2) Cherenkov imaging telescopes with a wide field of
view (8 to 10deg diameter) optimised for the E~10 to 100 TeV range. TenTen will
achieve an effective area of ~10 km^2 at energies above 10 TeV. We outline here
the motivation for TenTen and summarise key performance parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of the 30th ICRC, Merida, Mexico,
200
BL Lac Contribution to the Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background
Very high energy gamma-rays from blazars traversing cosmological distances
through the metagalactic radiation field can convert into electron-positron
pairs in photon-photon collisions. The converted gamma-rays initiate
electromagnetic cascades driven by inverse-Compton scattering off the microwave
background photons. Using a model for the time-dependent metagalactic radiation
field consistent with all currently available far-infrared-to-optical data, we
calculate the cascade contribution from faint, unresolved high- and low-peaked
blazars to the extragalactic gamma-ray background as measured by EGRET. For
low-peaked blazars, we adopt a spectral index consistent with the mean spectral
index of EGRET detected blazars, and the luminosity function determined by
Chiang and Mukherjee (1998). For high-peaked blazars, we adopt template spectra
matching prototype sources observed with air-Cherenkov telescopes up to 30 TeV,
and a luminosity function based on X-ray measurements. The low number of about
20 for nearby high-peaked blazars with a flux exceeding 10^-11 cm^-2 s^-1 above
300 GeV inferred from the luminosity function is consistent with the results
from air-Cherenkov telescope observations. Including the cascade emission from
higher redshifts, the total high-peaked blazar contribution to the observed
gamma-ray background at GeV energies can account up to about 30.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted by A&A, final versio
Numerical simulations of string networks in the Abelian-Higgs model
We present the results of a field theory simulation of networks of strings in
the Abelian Higgs model. Starting from a random initial configuration we show
that the resulting vortex tangle approaches a self-similar regime in which the
length density of lines of zeros of reduces as . We demonstrate
that the network loses energy directly into scalar and gauge radiation. These
results support a recent claim that particle production, and not gravitational
radiation, is the dominant energy loss mechanism for cosmic strings. This means
that cosmic strings in Grand Unified Theories are severely constrained by high
energy cosmic ray fluxes: either they are ruled out, or an implausibly small
fraction of their energy ends up in quarks and leptons.Comment: 4pp RevTeX, 3 eps figures, clarifications and new results included,
to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
Propagation of ultra-high energy protons in the nearby universe
We present a new calculation of the propagation of protons with energies
above eV over distances of up to several hundred Mpc. The calculation
is based on a Monte Carlo approach using the event generator
SOPHIA for the simulation of hadronic nucleon-photon interactions and a
realistic integration of the particle trajectories in a random extragalactic
magnetic field. Accounting for the proton scattering in the magnetic field
affects noticeably the nucleon energy as a function of the distance to their
source and allows us to give realistic predictions on arrival energy, time
delay, and arrival angle distributions and correlations as well as secondary
particle production spectra.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, ReVTeX. Physical Review D, accepte
A lower bound on the local extragalactic magnetic field
Assuming that the hard gamma-ray emission of Cen A is a result of synchrotron
radiation of ultra-relativistic electrons, we derive a lower bound on the local
extragalactic magnetic field, G. This result is consistent with
(and close to) upper bounds on magnetic fields derived from consideration of
cosmic microwave background distortions and Faraday rotation measurements.Comment: Includes extensive discussion of particle acceleration above 10^20 eV
in the hot spot-like region of Cen
Limits on models of the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays based on topological defects
An erratum exists for this article. Please see the description link below for details.Using the propagation of ultrahigh energy nucleons, photons, and electrons in the universal radiation backgrounds, we obtain limits on the luminosity of topological defect scenarios for the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays. The limits are set as a function of the mass of the X particles emitted by the cosmic strings or other defects, the cosmological evolution of the topological defects, and the strength of the extragalactic magnetic fields. The existing data on the cosmic ray spectrum and on the isotropic 100 MeV gamma-ray background limit significantly the parameter space in which topological defects can generate the flux of the highest energy cosmic rays, and rule out models with the standard X-particle mass of 10¹⁶GeV and higher.R. J. Protheroe and Todor Stane
Extremely High Energy Neutrinos, Neutrino Hot Dark Matter, and the Highest Energy Cosmic Rays
Extremely high energy (up to 10**(22) eV) cosmic neutrino beams initiate high
energy particle cascades in the background of relic neutrinos from the Big
Bang. We perform numerical calculations to show that such cascades could
contribute more than 10% to the observed cosmic ray flux above 10**(19) eV if
neutrinos have masses in the electron volt range. The required intensity of
primary neutrinos could be consistent with astrophysical models for their
production if the maximum neutrino energy reaches to 10**(22) eV and the
massive neutrino dark matter is locally clustered. Future observations of ultra
high energy cosmic rays will lead to an indirect but practical search for
neutrino dark matter.Comment: 4 latex pages, 3 postscript figures included, uses revtex.sty and
psfig.sty. Submitted to Physical Review Letter
On the cosmic ray bound for models of extragalactic neutrino production
We obtain the maximum diffuse neutrino intensity predicted by hadronic
photoproduction models of the type which have been applied to the jets of
active galactic nuclei or gamma ray bursts. For this, we compare the proton and
gamma ray fluxes associated with hadronic photoproduction in extragalactic
neutrino sources with the present experimental upper limit on cosmic ray
protons and the extragalactic gamma ray background, employing a transport
calculation of energetic protons traversing cosmic photon backgrounds. We take
into account the effects of the photon spectral shape in the sources on the
photoproduction process, cosmological source evolution, the optical depth for
cosmic ray ejection, and discuss the possible effects of magnetic fields in the
vicinity of the sources. For photohadronic neutrino sources which are optically
thin to the emission of neutrons we find that the cosmic ray flux imposes a
stronger bound than the extragalactic gamma ray background in the energy range
between 10^5 GeV and 10^11 GeV, as previously noted by Waxman & Bahcall (1999).
We also determine the maximum contribution from the jets of active galactic
nuclei, using constraints set to their neutron opacity by gamma-ray
observations. This present upper limit is consistent with the jets of active
galactic nuclei producing the extragalactic gamma ray background hadronically,
but we point out future observations in the GeV-to-TeV regime could lower this
limit. We also briefly discuss the contribution of gamma ray bursts to
ultra-high energy cosmic rays as it can be inferred from possible observations
or limits on their correlated neutrino fluxes.Comment: 16 pages, includes 7 figures, using REVtex3.1, accepted for
publication in Phys.Rev.D after minor revision
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