On the extragalactic jet asymmetry and composition, and the production of high energy cosmic rays

TL;DR

This paper investigates how asymmetries in relativistic jets from active galactic nuclei influence the acceleration of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, considering environmental factors and jet composition.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of jet asymmetry effects on cosmic ray production and the role of jet composition and environment in this process.

Findings

Jet asymmetry impacts cosmic ray acceleration efficiency.

Relativistic protons and electrons significantly contribute to jet energy.

Jets can heat intracluster gas effectively through their energetic particles.

Abstract

We probe the role of the directional asymmetry between relativistic outflows to kilo-parsec scale jets in the propagation and acceleration of cosmic rays. Our sample contains powerful AGN hosting dense cluster environments. We attempt a thorough description of where and when ultra high energy cosmic ray production and acceleration takes place also using radio observations of the large scale stucture of the AGNs and X-ray data of the hot dense gas in which the AGNs are situated. As far as the cosmic ray primaries are concerned, the presence of relativistic protons or mildly relativistic electrons/positrons contributes substantially to the energy budget of the jets enabling them to heat efficiently the intracluster gas.