6533b873fe1ef96bd12d57ca

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Correlation of the highest-energy cosmic rays with the positions of nearby active galactic nuclei

A. KriegerA. CurutiuA. Della SelvaC. GrunfeldJ. PallottaE. J. QuelM. OrtizAntoine Letessier-selvonM. D. HealyMartina BohacovaPatrick AllisonJ. SorokinGraciela B. GelminiJohn SwainSegev BenzviA. CreusotA. G. K. SmithA. TamburroT. KarovaCorbin CovaultT. BergmannS. WesterhoffC. E. FracchiollaM. D. Rodriguez-friasP. BernardiniR. R. McneilAlexander SchmidtI. ValiñoP. Facal San LuisL. CarameteM. Gómez BerissoM. Gonçalves Do AmaralY. PetrovGeraldina GolupAlexander GrilloR. C. ShellardR. MussaR. MussaM. ZavrtanikWarner A. MillerA. Lopez AgüeraJ. OehlschlaegerK. ArisakaH. GemmekeE. MenichettiE. MenichettiJeffrey BrackOlaf ScholtenOlaf ScholtenChristopher MorrisChristopher MorrisFred SarazinLukas NellenR. LópezV. VerziPeter HansenT. YamamotoPiotr HomolaE. ArmengaudHumberto Ibarguen SalazarJ. R. T. De Mello NetoR. M. De AlmeidaIvor FleckJ. GutiérrezJaime Alvarez-muñizI. Rodriguez-caboPeter BuchholzR. Gómez HerreroP. PetrincaP. PetrincaD. MaurizioD. MaurizioP. T. NhungM. I. MichelettiF. SchmidtTanguy PierogP. BlasiD. ThomasC. BeratB. MoralesMatias TuerosM. VidelaC. WilemanGaetano SalinaC. RiviereG. CataldiRossella CarusoRossella CarusoH. GlassD. Garcia GaimezA. TonachiniC. AramoF. ArneodoZbigniew SzadkowskiG. HebreroDarko VeberičM. SettimoA. GorgiA. GorgiA. FilevichMarco AgliettaMarco AgliettaH. BluemerH. M. SpinkaJ. S. DíazPetr TravnicekN. Smetniansky De GrandeD. AllardJ. PochonX. GarridoJ. ChauvinAntonio InsoliaJuan Carlos D'olivoEsteban RouletC. De DonatoA. ZechW. FulgioneRodrigo PelayoPetr SchovanekL. Del PeralD. LebrunOsvaldo CatalanoA. ItalianoA. ItalianoMiroslav PalatkaO. WainbergM. ProuzaJ. Rodriguez RojoBianca KeilhauerS. FerryT. SuomijarviF. SchuesslerA. SmialkowskiCarla BonifaziCarla BonifaziJose A. BellidoI. DutanMatthias KleifgesC. Di GiulioEnrique ZasCarlos HojvatErnesto KempD. BarnhillPiera Luisa GhiaPiera Luisa GhiaPiera Luisa GhiaM. LarloriMiroslav PechJ. AllenI. M. PepeMaria-teresa DovaMaria-teresa DovaM. PatelBalázs KéglT. HauschildtG. NavarraG. NavarraPham Ngoc DiepN. G. BuscaT. BaeckerMarkus RothJaime RosadoS. NavasA. C. RoverokM. MonasorJan RidkyGermano GuedesL. PerroneJ. TakahashiR. Luna GarcíaAlberto EtchegoyenP. GouffonOlivier DelignyHernán AsoreyF. SalamidaH. WuFausto GuarinoFausto GuarinoR. CesterR. CesterM. S. GoldJ. RautenbergO. PisantiT. OhnukiC. RobledoHeino FalckeA. SegretoFernando ContrerasM. S. SutherlandD. Garcia-pintoBrian FickDanilo ZavrtanikN. PachecoPaul SommersW. J. M. De MelloF. IonitaLuis N. EpeleLuis N. EpeleA. FilipcicA. FilipcicT. VentersT. VentersMatthias LeutholdS. J. De Jong BgPaulo J. S. GonçalvesFrancesc FerrerSofia AndringaRadomir SmidaD. DornicP. N. DongJ. F. Valdés GaliciaC. MacolinoA. CordierAntonio VelardeMiguel MostafáA. K. TripathiG. WieczorekRicardo PiegaiaGregory R SnowS. VorobiovC. Delle FratteD. MeloD. NosekA. MeliDaniel Omar BadagnaniS. ParlatiI. TorresJ. MartinezT. SchmidtJ. D. HagueM. HussainSergio PetreraL. ValoreS. Dagoret-campagneC. E. SantoS. CoutuA. M. Van Den BergNorberto FazziniA. ChouR. MeyhandanMarcio Aparecido MullerH. R. Marquez FalconD. SemikozS. ReucroftR. KnapikG. La RosaP. AbreuJan PękalaHans KlagesJohn K. LeeCarola DobrigkeitM. ScuderiJ. Rodríguez MartinoA. AnzaloneGustavo Medina-tancoO. TascauKaren S. Caballero-moraV. De SouzaE. ColomboL. R. WienckeJ. G. GonzalezcC. MeurerRalf UlrichV. H. KoangaS. OstapchenkoValerio PirronelloValerio PirronelloB. WundheilerD. MandatatG. ParenteB. E. SmithJ. HoerandelThomas HebbekerM. HorvatGlennys R. FarrarM. GonzalezPaul M. MantschV. M. Olmos-gilbajaO. KroemerVasiliki PavlidouLuis A. AnchordoquiSubir SarkarJ. ChyeG. MieleB. WilczynskaJose ChinellatoR. SatoAnderson FauthR. M. KieckhaferL. VillaseñorJuan MorenoJuan MorenoAlexander KusenkoA. F. BarbosaJ. KnappB. S. AtulugamaAlan WatsonA. HornefferH. SchielerJonny KleinfellerBeatriz GarcíaD. TscherniakhovskiGerman RosM. PlatinoJ. W. CroninA. TamashiroArnulfo ZepedaKarl-heinz KampertRoger W ClayAntonella CastellinaM. McewenM. G. WinnickDariusz GoraAntonio BuenoSergio PastorHermann-josef MathesE. ParizotP. YounkStefano ArgiroStefano ArgiroCatherine Newman-holmesXavier BertouM. RobertsThomas MccauleyDaniel KuempelR. E. BurtonA. CrissMaria GillerW. C. BrownRúben ConceiçãoCarlos EscobarWagner CarvalhoM. E. MancenidoM. E. MancenidoA. HaungsGualberto AvilaFrancisco J. BlancoD. D'ursoP. BauleoLorenzo CazonA. MenschikovBeatriz B. SiffertA. RedondoPedro AssisN. NierstenhoeferI. De MitriS. MalderaDieter HeckP. BrogueiraL. OteroG. MancarellaV. C. HolmesIngomar AllekotteR. TiconaMartin UrbanJ. C. HamiltonKai DaumillerF. Gomez AlbarracinF. Gomez AlbarracinV. ScheriniP. BilloirAngela V. OlintoD. V. CaminD. V. CaminSergio SciuttoSergio SciuttoD. NewtonD. NewtonD. NewtonJavier TiffenbergN. T. ThaoD. WarnerV. Van ElewyckG. RodriguezIoana Codrina MarisH. DembinskiF. A. S. RezendeAlejandro Luis VeigaAlejandro Luis VeigaM. A. Leigui De OliveiraR. TcaciucRicardo VázquezR. SquartiniJohn L. HartonB. R. BeckerFederico SuarezFederico SuarezF. MontanetJ. C. Dos AnjosJ. AbrahamT. PaulE. StrazzeriE. StrazzeriT. AschMichael DuvernoisRalph EngelM. UngerMiroslav HrabovskyL. VoyvodicHenryk WilczyńskiTristan BeauA. StutzJ. MatthewsM. AveB. ConnollyD. Monnier RagaignePh. LebrunHeiko GeenenC. J.w.p. TimmermansDaniel GonzalezGuenter SiglM. PimentaPierre SokolskyC. BleveC. LachaudS. RiggiS. RiggiC. J. Todero PeixotoG. De La VegaS. HarmsmaVincenzo RiziB. Rouillé-d’orfeuilC. MorelloK. PayetM. ZiolkowskiS. L. C. BarrosoR. BoninoO. Martínez BravoV. GrassiFabrizio OrtolaniPeter L. BiermannJ. J. Lozano BahiloPaolo PriviteraY. GuardincerriD. Pakk Selmi-deiM. C. MaccaroneT. PintoLibor NozkaK. H. BeckerA. G. MariazziA. G. MariazziA. D. SupanitskyJ. J. BeattyNorbert KunkaA. DorofeevD. NitzSilvia MollerachJ. CoppensG. MatthiaeM. AmbrosioMarkus RisseU. CottiB. RevenuJulien AublinJulien AublinD. MartelloF. SánchezIván SidelnikI. Lhenry-yvonH. WahlbergMarcos SantanderB. TomePeter MazurJ. MatthewsG. TristramB. L. LagoC. AguirreA. PichelBei CaiW. TkaczykDiego HarariE. M. SantosE. M. SantosBruce R. DawsonTim HuegeJ. L. NavarroJ. L. NavarroA. ChiavassaM. KaducakM. C. MedinaO. Blanch-bigasO. Blanch-bigasF. ArquerosP. Necesal

subject

[SDU.ASTR.CO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]AstronomyOsservatorio Pierre AugerAstrophysicsGALAXY CLUSTER SURVEYAstrophysicsauger01 natural sciencesHigh energy cosmic rayRaggi cosmiciAstrophysical jetGMFObservatoryUltra-high-energy cosmic ray010303 astronomy & astrophysicsPhysicsBL-LACERTAEGreisen–Zatsepin–Kuz’min effect[SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]ORIGINUHECRAstrophysics (astro-ph)Settore FIS/01 - Fisica SperimentaleAstrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for AstrophysicsPierre Auger ObservatoryGZKRadiación cósmicaAnisotropíaCATALOGobservatoryddc:540EGMFCUTOFFComputingMethodologies_DOCUMENTANDTEXTPROCESSINGRELATIVISTIC JETSActive galactic nucleusAstrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaCosmic background radiationFOS: Physical sciencesCosmic rayAstrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic AstrophysicsACCELERATION[PHYS.ASTR.CO]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]0103 physical sciencesextra-galacticPARTICLESAGNAstrophysics::Galaxy AstrophysicsCiencias ExactasPierre Auger ObservatoryANISOTROPYhigh energy cosmic raysSciami atmosferici010308 nuclear & particles physicsFísicaAstronomyAstronomy and AstrophysicsCENTAURUSGalaxyExperimental High Energy Physics

description

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory provide evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of the cosmic rays with the ighest-energies, which are correlated with the positions of relatively nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) [Pierre Auger Collaboration, Science 318 (2007) 938]. The correlation has maximum significance for cosmic rays with energy greater than ~6 x 1019 eV and AGN at a distance less than ~75 Mpc. We have confirmed the anisotropy at a confidence level of more than 99% through a test with parameters specified a priori, using an independent data set. The observed correlation is compatible with the hypothesis that cosmic rays with the highest-energies originate from extra-galactic sources close enough so that their flux is not significantly attenuated by interaction with the cosmic background radiation (the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuz’min effect). The angular scale of the correlation observed is a few degrees, which suggests a predominantly light composition unless the magnetic fields are very weak outside the thin disk of our galaxy. Our present data do not identify AGN as the sources of cosmic rays unambiguously, and other candidate sources which are distributed as nearby AGN are not ruled out. We discuss the prospect of unequivocal identification of individual sources of the highest-energy cosmic rays within a few years of continued operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory.

10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.01.002http://hdl.handle.net/2066/72100