Ultrahigh Energy Nuclei in the Turbulent Galactic Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper examines how the turbulent Galactic magnetic field influences the propagation, imaging, and flux magnification of ultrahigh energy heavy nuclei, providing insights into cosmic ray source identification.

Contribution

It offers a detailed analysis of the turbulent GMF's effects on cosmic ray propagation and demonstrates the limitations of source attribution based on current data.

Findings

Turbulent GMF significantly alters source images and flux magnification.

Magnetic lensing effects depend on turbulence properties.

Cen A cannot solely explain Pierre Auger data under these models.

Abstract

In this work we study how the turbulent component of the Galactic magnetic field (GMF) affects the propagation of ultrahigh energy heavy nuclei. We investigate first how the images of individual sources and of the supergalactic plane depend on the properties of the turbulent GMF. Then we present a quantitative study of the impact of the turbulent field on (de-) magnification of source fluxes, due to magnetic lensing effects. We also show that it is impossible to explain the Pierre Auger data assuming that all ultrahigh energy nuclei are coming from Cen A, even in the most favorable case of a strong, extended turbulent field in the Galactic halo.