Cosmic ray acceleration to ultrahigh energy in radio galaxies
EPJ Web of Conferences EDP Sciences (2019)
Authors:
James H Matthews, Anthony R Bell, Anabella T Araudo, Katherine M Blundell
Abstract:
The origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is an open question. In
this proceeding, we first review the general physical requirements that a
source must meet for acceleration to 10-100 EeV, including the consideration
that the shock is not highly relativistic. We show that shocks in the backflows
of radio galaxies can meet these requirements. We discuss a model in which
giant-lobed radio galaxies such as Centaurus A and Fornax A act as
slowly-leaking UHECR reservoirs, with the UHECRs being accelerated during a
more powerful past episode. We also show that Centaurus A, Fornax A and other
radio galaxies may explain the observed anisotropies in data from the Pierre
Auger Observatory, before examining some of the difficulties in associating
UHECR anisotropies with astrophysical sources.
