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Propagation of UHE cosmic rays in a structured universe

Jorg P. Rachen
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Abstract

In a gravitationally unstable universe, the structure of dark matter and galaxies, intergalactic gas and magnetic field can have severe impact on the propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) (Ryu & Kang, this proceedings). The possible effects include spatial confinement and directional focusing along the supergalactic matter sheets, as well as universal re-acceleration at large scale shock fronts, and spectral modification due to energy dependent leakage into cosmic voids. As a result, the GZK-cutoff may be less pronounced and occur at a higher energy, where the stochastic nature of both acceleration and energy loss processes has to be taken into account.

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Jorg P. Rachen. 1997-02-05. Propagation of UHE cosmic rays in a structured universe. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9702046

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