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A Bayesian analysis of the 69 highest energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory

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Title: A Bayesian analysis of the 69 highest energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory
Authors: Khanin, A
Mortlock, DJ
Item Type: Journal Article
Abstract: The origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) remain an open question. Several attempts have been made to cross-correlate the arrival directions of the UHECRs with catalogues of potential sources, but no definite conclusion has been reached. We report a Bayesian analysis of the 69 events, from the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO), that aims to determine the fraction of the UHECRs that originate from known AGNs in the Veron-Cety & Verson (VCV) catalogue, as well as AGNs detected with the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (Swift-BAT), galaxies from the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS), and an additional volume-limited sample of 17 nearby AGNs. The study makes use of a multilevel Bayesian model of UHECR injection, propagation and detection. We find that for reasonable ranges of prior parameters the Bayes factors disfavour a purely isotropic model. For fiducial values of the model parameters, we report 68 per cent credible intervals for the fraction of source originating UHECRs of 0.09+0.05 −0.04, 0.25+0.09 −0.08, 0.24+0.12 −0.10, and 0.08+0.04 −0.03 for the VCV, Swift-BAT and 2MRS catalogues, and the sample of 17 AGNs, respectively.
Issue Date: 16-May-2016
Date of Acceptance: 12-May-2016
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/58655
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1165
ISSN: 0035-8711
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page: 2765
End Page: 2778
Journal / Book Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume: 460
Issue: 3
Copyright Statement: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Sponsor/Funder: Science and Technology Facilities Council
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Funder's Grant Number: ST-N000838
ST/N000838/1
Keywords: Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
methods: statistical
cosmic rays
ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI
ARRIVAL DIRECTIONS
SPECTRUM
ANISOTROPY
CENTAURUS
SEARCH
ARRAY
0201 Astronomical And Space Sciences
Publication Status: Published
Appears in Collections:Physics
Astrophysics
Faculty of Natural Sciences