Würzburg 2018 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 78: Kosmische Strahlung IV

T 78.7: Talk

Thursday, March 22, 2018, 18:00–18:15, Philo-HS6

Influence of the source evolution on the energy spectrum, chemical composition and anisotropy of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays* — •David Wittkowski and Karl-Heinz Kampert — Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal

In the context of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR, cosmic charged particles with energies E > 1 EeV), most of the main questions are still unanswered. This includes the important question about the sources of UHECR. A reason for this lack of knowledge is that on the way from their sources to Earth UHECR interact with the photon background and are deflected in cosmic magnetic fields, which obscures the origin of UHECR measued at Earth. To examine these questions, we carried out realistic simulations of the UHECR’ propagation to Earth, taking into account all relevant effects on the propagation, and compared the results with experimental data measured at Earth. In this talk, we present a novel astrophysical scenario that – in contrast to previous approaches – correctly reproduces the measured energy spectrum, chemical composition and anisotropy of UHECR. Furthermore, we address how these observables depend on the cosmological evolution of the UHECR’ sources and discuss conclusions that can be drawn about the sources.

*Gefördert durch die BMBF Verbundforschung Astroteilchenphysik (Vorhaben 05A17PX1)