Related papers: Comment on "Correlation of the Highest-Energy Cosm…
Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrated a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above ~ 6x10^{19} electron volts and the positions of active galactic…
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory provide evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of the cosmic rays with the highest energies, which are correlated with the positions of relatively nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN)…
The present situation with regard to experimental data on ultra high-energy cosmic rays is briefly reviewed. Whilst detailed knowledge of the shape of the energy spectrum is still lacking, it is clear that events above 10^20 eV do exist.…
The majority of the highest energy cosmic rays are thought to be electrically charged: protons or nuclei. Charged particles experience angular deflections as they pass through galactic and extra-galactic magnetic fields. As a consequence…
A natural interpretation of the correlation between nearby Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and the highest-energy cosmic rays observed recently by the Pierre Auger Collaboration is that the sources of the cosmic rays are either AGN or other…
Studies of the correlations of ultra-high energy cosmic ray directions with extra-Galactic objects, of general anisotropy, of photons and neutrinos, and of other astrophysical effects, with the Pierre Auger Observatory. Contributions to the…
Recent measurements of the properties of cosmic rays above 10^17 eV are summarized and implications on our contemporary understanding of their origin are discussed. Cosmic rays with energies exceeding 10^20 eV have been measured, they are…
A review of several analyses is presented that forces the conclusion that the mass composition of the highest-energy cosmic rays is not proton-dominated. This deduction, combined with the use of a modern hadronic interaction model, should…
A very recent observation by the Auger Observatory group claims strong evidence for cosmic rays above 56 EeV being protons from Active Galactic Nuclei. If, as would be expected, the particles above the ankle at about 2 EeV are almost all of…
The bulk of observed ultrahigh energy cosmic rays could be light or heavier elements, and originate from an either steady or transient population of sources. This leaves us with four general categories of sources. Energetic requirements set…
Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays are known to be mainly of extragalactic origin, and their propagation is limited by energy losses, so their arrival directions are expected to correlate with the large-scale structure of the local Universe. In…
The wealth of data collected in the last few years thanks to the Pierre Auger Observatory and recently to the Telescope Array made the problem of the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays a genuinely experimental/observational one. The…
Active galaxies and gamma ray bursts are the sources of the highest energy photons detected by astronomical telescopes. We speculate that they may be the sources of the highest energy cosmic rays. This makes them true proton accelerators,…
Data of Pierre Auger Observatory show a proton-dominated chemical composition of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays spectrum at (1 - 3) EeV and a steadily heavier composition with energy increasing. In order to explain this feature we assume that…
We analyze the active-galaxy correlation reported in 2007 by the Pierre Auger Collaboration. The signal diminishes if the correlation-function approach (counting all "source-event" pairs and not only "nearest neighbours") is used,…
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies $E>E_{th}=5.5\times 10^{19}$ eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby…
It is proposed that the highest energy $\sim 10^{20}$eV cosmic ray primaries are protons, decay products of a long-lived progenitor whose high kinetic energy arises from decay of a distant (cosmological) superheavy particle, G. Such a…
Possible extragalactic sources of cosmic rays at energies above 4*10^{19} eV detected with the Yakutsk array are sought. Correlation of the shower arrival directions with objects from Veron's catalog that are located closer than 100 Mpc…
The sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are not yet known. However, the discovery of anisotropic cosmic rays above 57x10^18 eV by the Pierre Auger Observatory suggests that a direct source detection may soon be possible. The…
The origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is discussed in light of the latest observational results from the Pierre Auger Observatory, highlighting potential astrophysical sources such as active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, and…