Bonn 2020 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Die DPG-Frühjahrstagung in Bonn musste abgesagt werden! Lesen Sie mehr ...
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 103: Cosmic rays IV
T 103.5: Vortrag
Freitag, 3. April 2020, 12:00–12:15, L-3.002
Predicting the UHE photon flux from GZK-interactions of hadronic cosmic rays using CRPropa 3 — •Anna Bobrikova, Marcus Niechciol, Markus Risse, and Philip Ruehl for the Pierre Auger collaboration — University of Siegen
Measurements of the ultra high energetic cosmic ray (UHECR) spectrum taken by the Pierre Auger Observatory indicate an energy cut-off at about 50 EeV. The origin of this cut-off is still unclear. Possible explanations are the GZK-process (UHE proton interacting with the photons of the cosmic microwave background), photodisintegration interactions of UHE nuclei, or the maximum acceleration energy of the sources themselves. Indirect evidence for the GZK-effect could be provided by the search for UHE photons. Such photons would be produced if hadronic cosmic rays with energies above the cut-off energy interact via the GZK-process. In order to interpret the experimental upper limits on the flux of the UHE photons, theoretical predictions are needed. Predictions of the photon flux above 1 EeV as expected from the GZK-process have been derived in the past. The constantly growing amount of data collected at Auger along with refined analysis methods make it possible to search for photons with energies down to 2 × 1017 eV. For the study presented in this contribution, the CRPropa 3 framework is used to simulate the propagation and interaction of primary hadronic cosmic rays and their secondaries on their way from their sources to the earth to obtain predictions for the UHE photon flux below 1 EeV. Funded by BMBF Verbundforschung Astroteilchenphysik.