1. Scrutinizing FR 0 radio galaxies as ultra-high-energy cosmic ray source candidatesLukas Merten, Margot Boughelilba, Anita Reimer, Paolo Da Vela, Serguei Vorobiov, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Giacomo Bonnoli, Jon Paul Lundquist, Chiara Righi, 2021, original scientific article Abstract: Fanaroff-Riley (FR) 0 radio galaxies compose a new class of radio galaxies, which are usually weaker but much more numerous than the well-established class of FR 1 and FR 2 galaxies. The latter classes have been proposed as sources of the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies reaching up to eV. Based on this conjecture, the possibility of UHECR acceleration and survival in an FR 0 source environment is examined in this work.
In doing so, an average spectral energy distribution (SED) based on data from the FR 0 catalog (FR0CAT) is compiled. The resulting photon fields are used as targets for UHECRs, which suffer from electromagnetic pair production, photo-disintegration, photo-meson production losses, and synchrotron radiation. Multiple mechanisms are discussed to assess the UHECR acceleration probability, including Fermi-I order and gradual shear accelerations, and particle escape from the source region.
This work shows that in a hybrid scenario, combining Fermi and shear accelerations, FR 0 galaxies can contribute to the observed UHECR flux, as long as where shear acceleration starts to dominate over escape. Even in less optimistic scenarios, FR 0s can be expected to contribute to the cosmic-ray flux between the knee and the ankle. Our results are relatively robust with respect to the realized magnetic turbulence model and the speed of the accelerating shocks. Keywords: acceleration of particles, nonthermal radiation mechanisms, jets, active galaxies, cosmic rays Published in RUNG: 05.02.2021; Views: 3296; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
2. Search for anisotropy of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays with the Telescope Array experimentT. Abu-Zayyad, Jon Paul Lundquist, 2012, original scientific article Abstract: We study the anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events collected by the Telescope Array (TA) detector in the first 40 months of operation. Following earlier studies, we examine event sets with energy thresholds of 10 EeV, 40 EeV, and 57 EeV. We find that the distributions of the events in right ascension and declination are compatible with an isotropic distribution in all three sets. We then compare with previously reported clustering of the UHECR events at small angular scales. No significant clustering is found in the TA data. We then check the events with E > 57 EeV for correlations with nearby active galactic nuclei. No significant correlation is found. Finally, we examine all three sets for correlations with the large-scale structure (LSS) of the universe. We find that the two higher-energy sets are compatible with both an isotropic distribution and the hypothesis that UHECR sources follow the matter distribution of the universe (the LSS hypothesis), while the event set with E > 10 EeV is compatible with isotropy and is not compatible with the LSS hypothesis at 95% CL unless large deflection angles are also assumed. We show that accounting for UHECR deflections in a realistic model of the Galactic magnetic field can make this set compatible with the LSS hypothesis. Keywords: acceleration of particles, astroparticle physics, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, methods: statistical, relativistic processes Published in RUNG: 19.05.2020; Views: 3481; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
3. Correlations of the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic ray with extragalactic objects as observed by the telescope array experimentT. Abu-Zayyad, Jon Paul Lundquist, 2013, original scientific article Abstract: We search for correlations between the positions of extragalactic objects and the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with primary energy E ≥ 40 EeV as observed by the surface detector array of the Telescope Array (TA) experiment during the first 40 months of operation. We examine several public astronomical object catalogs, including the Veron-Cetty and Veron catalog of active galactic nuclei. We count the number of TA events correlated with objects in each catalog as a function of three parameters: the maximum angular separation between a TA event and an object, the minimum energy of the events, and the maximum redshift of the objects. We determine the combination of these parameters that maximizes the correlations, and we calculate the probability of having the same levels of correlations from an isotropic distribution of UHECR arrival directions. No statistically significant correlations are found when penalties for scanning over the above parameters and for searching in several catalogs are taken into account. Keywords: acceleration of particles, astroparticle physics, cosmic rays Published in RUNG: 19.05.2020; Views: 3477; Downloads: 128 Full text (779,07 KB) |
4. Depth of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Induced Air Shower Maxima Measured by the Telescope Array Black Rock and Long Ridge FADC Fluorescence Detectors and Surface Array in Hybrid ModeR.U. Abbasi, Jon Paul Lundquist, 2018, original scientific article Abstract: The Telescope Array (TA) observatory utilizes fluorescence detectors and surface detectors (SDs) to observe air showers produced by ultra high energy cosmic rays in Earth's atmosphere. Cosmic-ray events observed in this way are termed hybrid data. The depth of air shower maximum is related to the mass of the primary particle that generates the shower. This paper reports on shower maxima data collected over 8.5 yr using the Black Rock Mesa and Long Ridge fluorescence detectors in conjunction with the array of SDs. We compare the means and standard deviations of the observed Xmax distributions with Monte Carlo Xmax distributions of unmixed protons, helium, nitrogen, and iron, all generated using the QGSJet II-04 hadronic model. We also perform an unbinned maximum likelihood test of the observed data, which is subjected to variable systematic shifting of the data Xmax distributions to allow us to test the full distributions, and compare them to the Monte Carlo to see which elements are not compatible with the observed data. For all energy bins, QGSJet II-04 protons are found to be compatible with TA hybrid data at the 95% confidence level after some systematic Xmax shifting of the data. Three other QGSJet II-04 elements are found to be compatible using the same test procedure in an energy range limited to the highest energies where data statistics are sparse. Keywords: acceleration of particles, astrochemistry, astroparticle physics, cosmic rays, elementary particles, UHECR, composition Published in RUNG: 27.04.2020; Views: 3767; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
5. A Northern Sky Survey for Point-Like Sources of EeV Neutral Particles with the Telescope Array ExperimentR.U. Abbasi, Jon Paul Lundquist, 2015, original scientific article Abstract: We report on the search for steady point-like sources of neutral particles around 1018 eV between 2008 and 2013
May with the scintillator SD of the Telescope Array experiment. We found overall no significant point-like excess
above 0.5 EeV in the northern sky. Subsequently, we also searched for coincidence with the Fermi bright Galactic
sources. No significant coincidence was found within the statistical uncertainty. Hence, we set an upper limit on the
neutron flux that corresponds to an averaged flux of 0.07 km−2 yr−1 for E > 1EeV in the northern sky at the 95%
confidence level. This is the most stringent flux upper limit in a northern sky survey assuming point-like sources.
The upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the neutron flux from Cygnus X-3 is also set to 0.2 km−2 yr−1 for
E > 0.5 EeV. This is an order of magnitude lower than previous flux measurements. Keywords: acceleration of particles, cosmic rays, surveys Published in RUNG: 24.04.2020; Views: 4176; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
6. Indications of Intermediate-Scale Anisotropy of Cosmic Rays with Energy Greater Than 57 EeV in the Northern Sky Measured with the Surface Detector of the Telescope Array ExperimentR.U. Abbasi, Jon Paul Lundquist, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: We have searched for intermediate-scale anisotropy in the arrival directions of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays with energies above 57 EeV in the northern sky using data collected over a 5 year period by the surface detector of the Telescope Array experiment. We report on a cluster of events that we call the hotspot, found by oversampling using 20∘-radius circles. The hotspot has a Li-Ma statistical significance of 5.1σ, and is centered at R.A.=146.7∘, Dec.=43.2∘. The position of the hotspot is about 19∘ off of the supergalactic plane. The probability of a cluster of events of 5.1σ significance, appearing by chance in an isotropic cosmic-ray sky, is estimated to be 3.7×10−4 (3.4σ). Keywords: acceleration of particles, cosmic rays, large-scale structure of universe, surveys Published in RUNG: 24.04.2020; Views: 3742; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |