Related papers: Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays from a Magnetized St…
Observation of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) -whose energy exceeds $10^20$eV- is still a puzzle for modern astrophysics. The transfer of more than 16 Joules to a microscopic particle can hardly be achieved, even in the most powerful…
Numerous authors have suggested that the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory and other cosmic-ray telescopes may be accelerated in the nuclei, jets or lobes of radio galaxies. Here I focus on…
Gamma-ray bursts are flashes of high-energy radiation lasting from a fraction of a second to several hours. Military satellites made the first detections of GRBs in the late 1960s. The $\gamma$-ray emission forms from shocks in a…
We discuss a representative selection of particle acceleration mechanisms believed to be operating in Active Galactic Nuclei. Starting from direct electrostatic field acceleration in the vicinity of the black hole up to Fermi-type particle…
Understanding the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays is a crucial step in probing new physics at energies unattainable by terrestrial accelerators. Their sources remain an enigma half a century after their discovery. They must be…
The recent detection of the gravitational wave source GW150914 by the LIGO collaboration motivates a speculative source for the origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays as a possible byproduct of the immense energies achieved in black hole…
Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are the most energetic of any subatomic particles ever observed in nature. The quest for their mysterious origin is currently a major scientific challenge. Here we explore the possibility that these particles…
A striking concentration of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) events observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory around the direction of the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A revives the idea that radio galaxies may be dominant sources of…
The ultra-high energy cosmic rays observed at the Earth are most likely accelerated in extra-galactic sources. For the typical luminosities invoked for such sources, the electric current associated to the flux of cosmic rays that leave them…
One of a family previously proposed ``central engines'' for cosmic gamma-ray burst sources (Klu\'zniak & Ruderman 1998) is considered in some detail. A steadily accreting $10^6$ Gauss magnetic white dwarf should ultimately collapse to a…
We predict a new class of very intense, short-duration AGN flares capable of accelerating the highest energy cosmic rays, resulting from the tidal disruption of a star or from a disk instability. The rate and power of these flares readily…
A mechanism of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray acceleration in extragalactic radio sources at the interface between the relativistic jet and the ambient medium is discussed as a supplement to the shock acceleration in `hot spots'.…
Statistical arguments show that the volume- and time-averaged kinetic power of GRBs and fireball transients (FTs) into an L* galaxy like the Milky Way is at the level of 10^40 ergs/s. This number, though with wide uncertainties related to…
Stable, quantized gravitational bound states of primordial black holes called Holeums could have been produced in the early universe and could be a component of the Super Heavy Dark Matter (SHDM) present in galactic halos. We show that…
The prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is widely thought to be radiation from accelerated electrons, but an appreciably larger amount of energy could be carried by accelerated protons, particularly if GRBs are the sources of…
The current status of origin of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) is reviewed, with emphasis given to elementary particle solutions to UHECR problem, namely to Topological Defects and Super-Heavy Dark Matter (SHDM) particles. The relic…
We review the physics of the highest energy cosmic rays. The discovery of their sources, still unknown, will reveal the most energetic astrophysical objects in the universe and could unveil new physics beyond the standard model of particle…
This is the fourth in a series of companion papers showing that, when an efficient dynamo can be maintained by accretion disks around supermassive black holes in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), it will lead to the formation of a powerful,…
We investigate the origin of a nearly pointlike cluster of 5 ultrahigh energy cosmic rays at RA ~169.2deg and dec ~56.8deg, using Sloan Digital Sky Survey and other data. No particular source candidates are found near the estimated source…
Spectra at the Earth of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) from Seyfert nuclei with red shifts z<=0.0092 and from Blue Lacertae objects (BL Lac's) are calculated. The spectra are compared with the experimental data. It is shown that in…