On the Origin and Survival of UHE Cosmic-Ray Nuclei in GRBs and Hypernovae

TL;DR

This paper investigates the conditions under which ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray nuclei can survive in gamma-ray bursts and hypernovae, providing constraints on their physical environments based on photo-disintegration processes.

Contribution

It offers new constraints on the physical conditions allowing UHE heavy nuclei to survive in GRBs and hypernovae, considering various shock scenarios and photon spectra.

Findings

UHE nuclei can survive in GRB external shocks and hypernovae.

Survival of UHE nuclei in internal shocks depends on dissipation radius and Lorentz factor.

Intermediate-mass nuclei are more likely to survive than heavy nuclei like Fe.

Abstract

The chemical composition of the ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic rays serves as an important clue for their origin. Recent measurements of the elongation rates by the Pierre Auger Observatory hint at the possible presence of heavy or intermediate mass nuclei in the UHE cosmic rays. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and hypernovae have been suggested as possible sources of the UHE cosmic rays. Here we derive the constraints on the physical conditions under which UHE heavy nuclei, if they are accelerated in these sources, can survive in their intense photon fields. We find that in the GRB external shock and in the hypernova scenarios, UHE nuclei can easily survive photo-disintegration. In the GRB internal shock scenario, UHE nuclei can also survive, provided the dissipation radius and/or the bulk Lorentz factor of the relativistic outflow are relatively large, or if the low-energy self-absorption break in the photon spectrum of the prompt emission occurs above several KeV. In internal shocks and in the other scenarios, intermediate-mass UHE nuclei have a higher probability of survival against photo-disintegration than UHE heavy nuclei such as Fe.