No Arabic abstract
We explain the observed multiwavelength photon spectrum of a number of BL Lac objects detected at very high energy (VHE, $E gtrsim 30$ GeV), using a lepto-hadronic emission model. The one-zone leptonic emission is employed to fit the synchrotron peak. Subsequently, the SSC spectrum is calculated, such that it extends up to the highest energy possible for the jet parameters considered. The data points beyond this energy, and also in the entire VHE range are well explained using a hadronic emission model. The ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs, $Egtrsim 0.1$ EeV) escaping from the source interact with the extragalactic background light (EBL) during propagation over cosmological distances to initiate electromagnetic cascade down to $sim1$ GeV energies. The resulting photon spectrum peaks at $sim1$ TeV energies. We consider a random turbulent extragalactic magnetic field (EGMF) with a Kolmogorov power spectrum to find the survival rate of UHECRs within 0.1 degrees of the direction of propagation in which the observer is situated. We restrict ourselves to an RMS value of EGMF, $B_{rm rms}sim 10^{-5}$ nG, for a significant contribution to the photon spectral energy distribution (SED) from UHECR interactions. We found that UHECR interactions on the EBL and secondary cascade emission can fit gamma-ray data from the BL Lacs we considered at the highest energies. The required luminosity in UHECRs and corresponding jet power are below the Eddington luminosities of the super-massive black holes in these BL Lacs.
While there is some level of consensus on a Galactic origin of cosmic rays up to the knee ($E_{k}sim 3times 10^{15}$ eV) and on an extragalactic origin of cosmic rays with energy above $sim 10^{19}$ eV, the debate on the genesis of cosmic rays in the intermediate energy region has received much less attention, mainly because of the ambiguity intrinsic in defining such a region. The energy range between $10^{17}$ eV and $sim 10^{19}$ eV is likely to be the place where the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays takes place. Hence the origin of these particles, though being of the highest importance from the physics point of view, it is also one of the most difficult aspects to investigate. Here I will illustrate some ideas concerning the sites of acceleration of these particles and the questions that their investigation may help answer, including the origin of underline{ultra} high energy cosmic rays.
This is a review of the most resent results from the investigation of the Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays, particles of energy exceeding 10$^{18}$ eV. After a general introduction to the topic and a brief review of the lower energy cosmic rays and the detection methods, the two most recent experiments, the High Resolution Flys Eye (HiRes) and the Southern Auger Observatory are described. We then concentrate on the results from these two experiments on the cosmic ray energy spectrum, the chemical composition of these cosmic rays and on the searches for their sources. We conclude with a brief analysis of the controversies in these results and the projects in development and construction that can help solve the remaining problems with these particles.
We explore the joint implications of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray (UHECR) source environments -- constrained by the spectrum and composition of UHECRs -- and the observed high energy astrophysical neutrino spectrum. Acceleration mechanisms producing power-law CR spectra $propto E^{-2}$ are compatible with UHECR data, if CRs at high rigidities are in the quasi-ballistic diffusion regime as they escape their source environment. Both gas- and photon-dominated source environments are able to account for UHECR observations, however photon-dominated sources do so with a higher degree of accuracy. However, gas-dominated sources are in tension with current neutrino constraints. Accurate measurement of the neutrino flux at $sim 10$ PeV will provide crucial information on the viability of gas-dominated sources, as well as whether diffusive shock acceleration is consistent with UHECR observations. We also show that UHECR sources are able to give a good fit to the high energy portion of the astrophysical neutrino spectrum, above $sim$ PeV. This common origin of UHECRs and high energy astrophysical neutrinos is natural if air shower data is interpreted with the textsc{Sibyll2.3c} hadronic interaction model, which gives the best-fit to UHECRs and astrophysical neutrinos in the same part of parameter space, but not for EPOS-LHC.
We study general implications of the IceCube observations in the energy range from $10^{6}$ GeV to $10^{10}$ GeV for the origin of extragalactic ultrahigh energy cosmic rays assuming that high energy neutrinos are generated by the photomeson production of protons in the extragalactic universe. The PeV-energy neutrino flux observed by IceCube gives strong bounds on the photomeson-production optical depth of protons in their sources and the intensity of the proton component of extragalactic cosmic rays. The neutrino flux implies that extragalactic cosmic-ray sources should have the optical depth greater than $sim 0.01$ and contribute to more than a few percent of the observed bulk of cosmic rays at 10 PeV. If the spectrum of cosmic rays from these extragalactic sources extends well beyond 1 EeV, the neutrino flux indicates that extragalactic cosmic rays are dominant in the observed total cosmic-ray flux at 1 EeV and above, favoring the dip transition model of cosmic rays. The cosmic-ray sources are also required to be efficient neutrino emitters with the optical depth close to unity in this case. The highest energy cosmic-ray ($sim 10^{11}$ GeV) sources should not be strongly evolved with redshift to account for the IceCube observations, suggesting that any cosmic-ray radiation scenarios involving distant powerful astronomical objects with strong cosmological evolution are strongly disfavored. These considerations conclude that none of the known extragalactic astronomical objects can be simultaneously a source of both PeV and trans-EeV energy cosmic rays. We also discuss a possible effect of cosmic-ray propagation in magnetized intergalactic space to the connection between the observed total cosmic-ray flux and neutrino flux.
In this paper we review the extragalactic propagation of ultrahigh energy cosmic-rays (UHECR). We present the different energy loss processes of protons and nuclei, and their expected influence on energy evolution of the UHECR spectrum and composition. We discuss the possible implications of the recent composition analyses provided by the Pierre Auger Observatory. The influence of extragalactic magnetic fields and possible departures from the rectilinear case are also mentioned as well as the production of secondary cosmogenic neutrinos and photons and the constraints their observation would imply for the UHECRs origin. Finally, we conclude by briefly discussing the relevance of a multi messenger approach for solving the mystery of UHECRs.