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 6 × 10^19 electron volts and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within ~75 megaparsecs. We rejected the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays with at least a 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observed is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest-energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been substantially reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial distribution are possible sources.

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Correlation of the highest-energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic objects

D.V. Camin;V. Grassi;V. Scherini;
2007

Abstract

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 6 × 10^19 electron volts and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within ~75 megaparsecs. We rejected the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays with at least a 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observed is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest-energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been substantially reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial distribution are possible sources.
high energy cosmic rays ; UHECR ; AGN ; anisotropy ; extra-galactic ; Auger Observatory ; GZK ; GMF ; EGMF
Settore FIS/01 - Fisica Sperimentale
9-nov-2007
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/139998
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