Nonlinear propagation, confinement, and anisotropy of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays in the Galaxy

Journal Article · Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.80.023012· OSTI ID:21316186

Shalchi, A; Skoda, T; Tautz, R C; Schlickeiser, R ^[1]

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1. Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Lehrstuhl IV: Weltraum- und Astrophysik, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany)

We explore the problems of propagation, confinement, and anisotropy of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. Previous investigations of plasma-particle interactions are based on a first-order perturbation theory also known as quasilinear theory. It is the subject of this article to employ a nonlinear diffusion theory, namely, the second-order quasilinear theory. We compute the parallel mean free path for slab and for isotropic turbulence for a wave spectrum with small-wave-number cutoff. It is demonstrated that we obtain a finite parallel mean free path even if the Larmor radius of the charged particle is larger than the largest scale of turbulence. Therefore, charged cosmic rays of all energies can be scattered and confined to the Galaxy by the turbulent magnetic fields.

• OSTI ID: 21316186
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 80, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.80.023012; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ANISOTROPY
CHARGED PARTICLES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COSMIC RADIATION
DIFFUSION
GALAXIES
LARMOR RADIUS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PERTURBATION THEORY
PLASMA
QUASILINEAR PROBLEMS
SCATTERING
SPECTRA
TURBULENCE