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Abstract |
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported. evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies E > E-th = 5.5 x 10(19) eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at E > E-th are heavy nuclei with charge Z, the proton component of the sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies E/Z. We here report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above E-th/Z (for illustrative values of Z = 6, 13, 26). If the anisotropies above E-th are due to nuclei with charge Z, and under reasonable assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies. |
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Address |
[Abreu, P.; Andringa, S.; Assis, P.; Brogueira, P.; Cazon, L.; Conceicao, R.; Goncalves, P.; Pimenta, M.; Santo, C. E.; Santos, E.; Tome, B.] LIP, P-1000 Lisbon, Portugal, Email: auger_spokepersons@fnal.gov |
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