Unmasking the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray origin
Abstract
The sharp change in slope of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray spectrum around 10^{9.6} GeV (the ankle), combined with evidence of a light but extragalactic component near and below the ankle which evolves to intermediate/heavy composition above, has proved exceedingly challenging to understand theoretically. Recently, we introduced a very general model in which, for a range of source conditions, photo-disintegration of ultrahigh-energy nuclei in the region surrounding the accelerator naturally accounts for the observed spectrum and composition of the entire extragalactic component, which dominates above about 10^{8.5} GeV. In this communication we review the generalities of the model and show that starburst galaxies provide a compelling source example.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1707.09338,
title = {Unmasking the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray origin},
author = {Luis A. Anchordoqui},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.09338},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
Based on talk given at the European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics (EPS-HEP), Venice, Italy 5-12 July 2017. To be published in the Conference Proceedings