Filaments of galaxies as a clue to the origin of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays.

ABSTRACT: Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are known to come from outside of our Galaxy, but their origin still remains unknown. The Telescope Array (TA) experiment recently identified a hotspot, that is, a high concentration of anisotropic arrival directions of UHECRs with energies above 5.7 Å ~ 10¹⁹ eV. We report here the presence of filaments of galaxies, connected to the Virgo Cluster, in the sky around the hotspot and a statistically significant correlation between hotspot events and the filaments. With 5-year TA data, the maximum significance of binomial statistics for the correlation is estimated to be 6.1σ at correlation angle 3.4°. The probability that the above significance appears by chance is ~2.0 × 10^-8 (5.6σ). On the basis of this finding, we suggest a model

SUBMITTER: Kim J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6314826 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature