Spheromaks and how plasmas may explain the ultra high energy cosmic ray mystery

Journal Article · Mon Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Plasma Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377816000866· OSTI ID:1346838

Fowler, T. Kenneth ^[1]; Li, Hui  ^[2]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

In recent papers, we show how accretion disks around massive black holes could act as dynamos producing magnetic jets similar to the jets that create spheromaks in the laboratory. In this paper, we discuss how these magnetic astrophysical jets might naturally produce runaway ion beams accelerated to$$10^{20}$$ eV or more, finally ejected as ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) long regarded as one of the mysteries of astrophysics. The acceleration is mainly due to the drift cyclotron loss cone kinetic instability known from plasma research. Finally, experiments and simulations are suggested to verify the acceleration process.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1346838
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-16-26683; applab
• Journal Information: Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 05; ISSN 0022-3778
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
astronomy and astrophysics
accretion disk
cosmic rays
spheromak