8 research outputs found
Constraints on the Local Sources of Ultra High-Energy Cosmic Rays
Ultra high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are believed to be protons accelerated
in magnetized plasma outflows of extra-Galactic sources. The acceleration of
protons to ~10^{20} eV requires a source power L>10^{47} erg/s. The absence of
steady sources of sufficient power within the GZK horizon of 100 Mpc, implies
that UHECR sources are transient. We show that UHECR "flares" should be
accompanied by strong X-ray and gamma-ray emission, and that X-ray and
gamma-ray surveys constrain flares which last less than a decade to satisfy at
least one of the following conditions: (i) L>10^{50} erg/s; (ii) the power
carried by accelerated electrons is lower by a factor >10^2 than the power
carried by magnetic fields or by >10^3 than the power in accelerated protons;
or (iii) the sources exist only at low redshifts, z<<1. The implausibility of
requirements (ii) and (iii) argue in favor of transient sources with L>10^{50}
erg/s.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to JCA
Gamma-Ray Constraints on Maximum Cosmogenic Neutrino Fluxes and UHECR Source Evolution Models
The dip model assumes that the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) above
10 eV consist exclusively of protons and is consistent with the spectrum
and composition measure by HiRes. Here we present the range of cosmogenic
neutrino fluxes in the dip-model which are compatible with a recent
determination of the extragalactic very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray diffuse
background derived from 2.5 years of Fermi/LAT data. We show that the largest
fluxes predicted in the dip model would be detectable by IceCube in about 10
years of observation and are within the reach of a few years of observation
with the ARA project. In the incomplete UHECR model in which protons are
assumed to dominate only above 10 eV, the cosmogenic neutrino fluxes
could be a factor of 2 or 3 larger. Any fraction of heavier nuclei in the UHECR
at these energies would reduce the maximum cosmogenic neutrino fluxes. We also
consider here special evolution models in which the UHECR sources are assumed
to have the same evolution of either the star formation rate (SFR), or the
gamma-ray burst (GRB) rate, or the active galactic nuclei (AGN) rate in the
Universe and found that the last two are disfavored (and in the dip model
rejected) by the new VHE gamma-ray background.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, JHEP3.cls needed to typese
Cross-Correlation between UHECR Arrival Distribution and Large-Scale Structure
We investigate correlation between the arrival directions of
ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and the large-scale structure (LSS) of
the Universe by using statistical quantities which can find the angular scale
of the correlation. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite Point Source Redshift
Survey (IRAS PSCz) catalog of galaxies is adopted for LSS. We find a positive
correlation of the highest energy events detected by the Pierre Auger
Observatory (PAO) with the IRAS galaxies inside within the angular
scale of . This positive correlation observed in the southern
sky implies that a significant fraction of the highest energy events comes from
nearby extragalactic objects. We also analyze the data of the Akeno Giant Air
Shower Array (AGASA) which observed the northern hemisphere, but the obvious
signals of positive correlation with the galaxy distribution are not found.
Since the exposure of the AGASA is smaller than the PAO, the cross-correlation
in the northern sky should be tested using a larger number of events detected
in the future. We also discuss the correlation using the all-sky combined data
sets of both the PAO and AGASA, and find a significant correlation within . These angular scales can constrain several models of intergalactic
magnetic field. These cross-correlation signals can be well reproduced by a
source model in which the distribution of UHECR sources is related to the IRAS
galaxies.Comment: 21 pages,7 figure
Astrophysical Origins of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays
In the first part of this review we discuss the basic observational features
at the end of the cosmic ray energy spectrum. We also present there the main
characteristics of each of the experiments involved in the detection of these
particles. We then briefly discuss the status of the chemical composition and
the distribution of arrival directions of cosmic rays. After that, we examine
the energy losses during propagation, introducing the Greisen-Zaptsepin-Kuzmin
(GZK) cutoff, and discuss the level of confidence with which each experiment
have detected particles beyond the GZK energy limit. In the second part of the
review, we discuss astrophysical environments able to accelerate particles up
to such high energies, including active galactic nuclei, large scale galactic
wind termination shocks, relativistic jets and hot-spots of Fanaroff-Riley
radiogalaxies, pulsars, magnetars, quasar remnants, starbursts, colliding
galaxies, and gamma ray burst fireballs. In the third part of the review we
provide a brief summary of scenarios which try to explain the super-GZK events
with the help of new physics beyond the standard model. In the last section, we
give an overview on neutrino telescopes and existing limits on the energy
spectrum and discuss some of the prospects for a new (multi-particle)
astronomy. Finally, we outline how extraterrestrial neutrino fluxes can be used
to probe new physics beyond the electroweak scale.Comment: Higher resolution version of Fig. 7 is available at
http://www.angelfire.com/id/dtorres/down3.html. Solicited review article
prepared for Reports on Progress in Physics, final versio
SEARCHES FOR HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRINO EMISSION IN THE GALAXY WITH THE COMBINED ICECUBE-AMANDA DETECTOR
We report on searches for neutrino sources at energies above 200 GeV in the Northern sky of the Galactic plane, using the data collected by the South Pole neutrino telescope, IceCube, and AMANDA. The Galactic region considered in this work includes the local arm toward the Cygnus region and our closest approach to the Perseus Arm. The searches are based on the data collected between 2007 and 2009. During this time AMANDA was an integrated part of IceCube, which was still under construction and operated with 22 strings (2007-2008) and 40 strings (2008-2009) of optical modules deployed in the ice. By combining the advantages of the larger IceCube detector with the lower energy threshold of the more compact AMANDA detector, we obtain an improved sensitivity at energies below ~10 TeV with respect to previous searches. The analyses presented here are a scan for point sources within the Galactic plane, a search optimized for multiple and extended sources in the Cygnus region, which might be below the sensitivity of the point source scan, and studies of seven pre-selected neutrino source candidates. For one of them, Cygnus X-3, a time-dependent search for neutrino emission in coincidence with observed radio and X-ray flares has been performed. No evidence of a signal is found, and upper limits are reported for each of the searches. We investigate neutrino spectra proportional to E –2 and E –3 in order to cover the entire range of possible neutrino spectra. The steeply falling E –3 neutrino spectrum can also be used to approximate neutrino energy spectra with energy cutoffs below 50 TeV since these result in a similar energy distribution of events in the detector. For the region of the Galactic plane visible in the Northern sky, the 90% confidence level muon neutrino flux upper limits are in the range E 3 dN/dE ~ 5.4-19.5 × 10–11 TeV2 cm–2 s–1 for point-like neutrino sources in the energy region [180.0 GeV-20.5 TeV]. These represent the most stringent upper limits for soft-spectra neutrino sources within the Galaxy reported to date