Related papers: On the Origin of Highest Energy Cosmic Rays
We shortly discuss several astrophysical scenarios leading to cosmic ray acceleration up to extremely high energies reaching the scale of 10^{20} eV. The processes suggested in the literature include acceleration at relativistic jet…
We give an outline of possible extragalactic explanations of the highest energy cosmic ray events. We give a classification of the possible particles which could have caused the events and try to find suitable sources for each class. In…
We probe the role of the directional asymmetry between relativistic outflows to kilo-parsec scale jets in the propagation and acceleration of cosmic rays. Our sample contains powerful AGN hosting dense cluster environments. We attempt a…
In this chapter I give an overview of shock acceleration, including a discussion of the maximum energies possible and the shape of the spectrum near cut-off, interactions of high energy cosmic rays with, and propagation through, the…
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…
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…
Contrary to expectations, several cosmic ray events with energies above $10^{20}$ eV have been observed. The flux of such events is well above the predicted Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff due to the pion production (via the $\Delta$…
Active Galactic Nuclei are considered as possible sites of cosmic ray acceleration and some of them have been observed as high energy gamma ray emitters (Blazars). There naturally comes an appealing idea that the acceleration of the highest…
The absence of the expected GZK cutoff strongly challenges the notion that the highest-energy cosmic rays are of distant extragalactic origin. We discuss the possibility that these ultra-high-energy events originate in our Galaxy and…
Ultra high energy cosmic ray events presently show a spectrum, which we interpret here as galactic cosmic rays due to a starburst in the radio galaxy Cen A pushed up in energy by the shock of a relativistic jet. The knee feature and the…
Historically cosmic rays have always been at the intersection of astrophysics with particle physics. This is still and especially true in current days where experimenters routinely observe atmospheric showers from particles whose energies…
Cosmic rays are charged relativistic particles that reach the Earth with extremely high energies, providing striking evidence of the existence of effective accelerators in the Universe. Below an energy around $\sim 10^{17}$ eV cosmic rays…
The hypothesis that the entire cosmic ray spectrum, from $\lesssim1\,{\rm GeV}$ to $\gtrsim100\,{\rm EeV}$ energy, can be accounted for by diffusive shock acceleration on increasingly large scales is critically examined. Specifically, it is…
We consider the production of high energy neutrinos and cosmic rays in radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGN) or in the central regions of radio-loud AGN. We use a model in which acceleration of protons takes place at a shock in an…
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…
Theoretical aspects of potential astrophysical sources of the highest energy cosmic rays are discussed, including their energy budget and some issues on particle escape and propagation. After briefly addressing AGN jets and GRBs, we…
In this lecture I give an overview of shock acceleration, interactions of high energy cosmic rays with, and propagation through, the background radiation, and the resulting electron-photon cascade. I argue that while the origin of the…
It is shown that the acceleration of particles by a powerful relativistic jet associated with the activity of a supermassive black hole in the Galactic center several million years ago may explain the observed cosmic ray spectrum at…
The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the workings of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. Current observations show a spectrum consistent with an…
The highest energy cosmic rays could be produced by drifts in magnetized, cylindrically collimated, sheared jets of powerful active galaxies (i.e. FR II radiogalaxies; radio loud quasars and high power BL Lacs). We show that in such…