CENTAURUS A: THE EXTRAGALACTIC SOURCE OF COSMIC RAYS WITH ENERGIES ABOVE THE KNEE

Autor(es)

Biermann, Peter L. ^{[1, 2]} ; de Souza, Vitor ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Max Planck Inst Radioastron, D-53121 Bonn - Germany

^[2] Karlsruhe Inst Technol, Dept Phys, Karlsruhe - Germany

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Fis Sao Carlos, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL; v. 746, n. 1 FEB 10 2012.
• Citações Web of Science: 22

Resumo

The origin of cosmic rays at all energies is still uncertain. In this paper, we present and explore an astrophysical scenario to produce cosmic rays with energy ranging from below 10(15) to 3 x 10(20) eV. We show here that just our Galaxy and the radio galaxy Cen A, each with their own galactic cosmic-ray particles but with those from the radio galaxy pushed up in energy by a relativistic shock in the jet emanating from the active black hole, are sufficient to describe the most recent data in the PeV to near ZeV energy range. Data are available over this entire energy range from the KASCADE, KASCADE-Grande, and Pierre Auger Observatory experiments. The energy spectrum calculated here correctly reproduces the measured spectrum beyond the knee and, contrary to widely held expectations, no other extragalactic source population is required to explain the data even at energies far below the general cutoff expected at 6 x 10(19) eV, the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min turnoff due to interaction with the cosmological microwave background. We present several predictions for the source population, the cosmic-ray composition, and the propagation to Earth which can be tested in the near future. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 08/04259-0 - Raios cósmicos de altas energias
• Beneficiário: Luiz Vitor de Souza Filho
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores
• Processo FAPESP: 10/07359-6 - Estudo dos raios cósmicos de mais altas energias com o Observatório Pierre Auger
• Beneficiário: Carola Dobrigkeit Chinellato
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático