Origin of the ankle in the ultra-high energy cosmic ray spectrum and the extragalactic protons below it

Glennys R. Farrar, Michael Unger, Luis A. Anchordoqui

    Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The sharp change in slope of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) spectrum around 1018:6 eV (the ankle), combined with evidence of a light but extragalactic component near and below the ankle which evolves to intermediate composition above, has proved exceedingly challenging to understand theoretically. We show that for a range of source conditions, photodisintegration of ultra-high energy nuclei in the region surrounding a UHECR accelerator naturally accounts for the observed spectrum and composition of the entire extragalactic component, which dominates above about 1017:5 eV. The mechanism has a clear signature in the spectrum and flavors of neutrinos.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number513
    JournalProceedings of Science
    Volume30-July-2015
    StatePublished - 2015
    Event34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2015 - The Hague, Netherlands
    Duration: Jul 30 2015Aug 6 2015

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General

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