ULTRAHIGH-ENERGY COSMIC RAYS AND BLACK HOLE MERGERS

ABSTRACT The recent detection of the gravitational-wave source GW150914 by the LIGO collaboration motivates a speculative source for the origin of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays as a possible byproduct of the immense energies achieved in black hole (BH) mergers, provided that the BHs have spin, as see...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astrophysical journal. Letters 2016-06, Vol.823 (2), p.L29-L29
Main Authors: Kotera, Kumiko, Silk, Joseph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquisitions
astroparticle physics
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
BLACK HOLES
Black holes (astronomy)
Byproducts
COSMIC RADIATION
Cosmic rays
Debris
DETECTION
Energy management
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTORS
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
Merging
Sciences of the Universe
SPIN
STARS
stars: black holes
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Summary:ABSTRACT The recent detection of the gravitational-wave source GW150914 by the LIGO collaboration motivates a speculative source for the origin of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays as a possible byproduct of the immense energies achieved in black hole (BH) mergers, provided that the BHs have spin, as seems inevitable, and there are relic magnetic fields and disk debris remaining from the formation of the BHs or from their accretion history. We argue that given the modest efficiency < 0.01 required per event per unit of gravitational-wave energy release, merging BHs potentially provide an environment for accelerating cosmic rays to ultrahigh energies. The presence of tidally disrupted planetary or asteroidal debris could lead to associated fast radio bursts.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L29