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| Paper: |
Fossil AGN as UHE Particle Accelerators |
| Volume: |
386, Extragalactic Jets: Theory and Observation from Radio to Gamma Ray |
| Page: |
233 |
| Authors: |
Protheroe, R.J.; Benford, G. |
| Abstract: |
Remnants of AGN jets and their cocoons leave colossal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fossil structures storing total energies ∼1060 erg. The original active galactic nucleus (AGN) may be dead but the fossil will retain its stable configuration resembling the reversed-field pinch (RFP) encountered in laboratory MHD experiments. In an RFP the longitudinal magnetic field changes direction at a critical distance from the axis, leading to magnetic re-connection there, and to slow decay of the large-scale RFP field. We show that this field decay induces large-scale electric fields which can accelerate cosmic rays with an E−2 power-law up to ultra-high energies with a cut-off depending on the fossil parameters. |
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