arXiv · hep-ph/0107287
Extragalactic Sources for Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Nuclei
Abstract
In this article we examine the hypothesis that the highest energy cosmic rays are complex nuclei from extragalactic sources. Under reasonable physical assumptions, we show that the nearby metally rich starburst galaxies (M82 and NGC 253) can produce all the events observed above the ankle. This requires diffusion of particles below $10^{20}$ eV in extragalactic magnetic fields $B \approx 15$ nG. Above $10^{19}$ eV, the model predicts the presence of significant fluxes of medium mass and heavy nuclei with small rate of change of composition. Notwithstanding, the most salient feature of the starburst-hypothesis is a slight anisotropy induced by iron debris just before the spectrum-cutoff.
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Luis Anchordoqui, Haim Goldberg, Stephen Reucroft, John Swain. 2001-09-20. Extragalactic Sources for Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Nuclei. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.64.123004
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