Ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray composition from the distribution of arrival directions

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68378271%3A_____%2F18%3A00539863" target="_blank" >RIV/68378271:_____/18:00539863 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.123018" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.123018</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.123018" target="_blank" >10.1103/PhysRevD.98.123018</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray composition from the distribution of arrival directions

Original language description

The sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) have been difficult to catch. It was recently pointed out that while sources of UHECR protons exhibit anisotropy patterns that become denser and compressed with rising energy, nucleus-emitting sources give rise to a cepa stratis (onionlike) structure with layers that become more distant from the source position with rising energy. The peculiar shape of the hot spots from nucleus accelerators is steered by the competition between energy loss during propagation and deflection on the Galactic magnetic field (GMF). Here, we run a full-blown simulation study to accurately characterize the deflections of UHECR nuclei in the GMF. We show that while the cepa stratis structure provides a global description of anisotropy patterns produced by UHECR nuclei en route to Earth, the hot spots are elongated depending on their location in the sky due to the regular structure of the GMF. We demonstrate that with a high-statistics sample at the high-energy end of the spectrum, like the one to be collected by NASA's Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics mission, the energy dependence of the hot spot contours could become a useful observable to identify the nuclear composition of UHECRs. This new method to determine the nature of the particle species is complementary to those using observables of extensive air showers and therefore is unaffected by the large systematic uncertainties of hadronic interaction models.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10303 - Particles and field physics

Project

—

Continuities

—

Publication year

2018

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Physical Review D

ISSN

2470-0010

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

98

Issue of the periodical within the volume

12

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

16

Pages from-to

1-16

UT code for WoS article

000454428100001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85059404052