Application of Accretion Disk Wind Models to QSOs /AGN

最高能量粒子的起源这个项目的目标是对最高能量宇宙射线（UHE宇宙射线，e5 × 1019 eV）的起源进行理论研究。利用这些高能粒子（从年轻的中子星风到agn）的产生和传播的合理场景，Olinto和同事将研究几种类型的加速模型，并对可能构成UHE宇宙射线的不同类型粒子的传播进行建模。使用这些不同的模型，他们将生成预测（例如能量谱和相对各向同性），以便与皮埃尔·奥格项目、高分辨率苍蝇之眼、日本望远镜阵列和OWL-Airwatch实验等实验获得的数据进行比较。偶尔，亚原子粒子带着巨大的能量进入大气层，产生数百亿次粒子的巨大级联，地球上的大型探测器都能观测到。产生这些巨大空气阵雨的粒子已经被加速到比地面机器所能达到的更大的能量，这表明以前无法预见的令人难以置信的强大天文加速器。对于这些最高能量粒子的起源的解释仍然不清楚，随着观测的积累，许多可能性被提出和限制。这些粒子来自可观测宇宙边缘的可能性受到了微波背景辐射的限制，微波背景辐射充满了整个空间，并降低了这些高能粒子的能量。从宇宙学的角度来看，微波背景将这些奇妙的宇宙加速器的位置限制在相对较近的地方。从附近星系中心的超大质量黑洞到大爆炸遗留下来的衰变粒子，最合理的建议包括。该项目的目标是通过详细研究最合理的建议和从源到地球传播的模型方面，试图找到答案。传播研究将与目前观测到的最大尺度磁场知识和最高能量相互作用的粒子物理模型密切相关。在可能的来源中，我们将研究许多模型，从最近的可能性，即这些粒子是铁在我们银河系盘中年轻的中子星中加速的，到超大额外维度对超高能量宇宙射线物理的可能影响。本项目由美国国家科学基金会星系外天文学和宇宙学项目（AST/EXC）资助

AST-0071235Olinto, Angela V.The Origin of the Highest Energy ParticlesThe goal of this project is to conduct theoretical investigations into the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays (UHE cosmic rays, with E 5x 1019 eV). Using plausible scenarios for the production and propagation of these energetic particles (ranging from young neutron star winds to AGNs), Olinto and co workers will study several types of acceleration models and also model the propagation of different types of particles which may make up the UHE cosmic rays. Using these different models, they will generate predictions (of for example energy spectrum and relative isotropy) for comparison with the data obtained by such experiments as the Pierre Auger Project, the High Resolution Fly's Eye, the Japanese Telescope Array, and the OWL-Airwatch experiment.Occasionally a subatomic particle enters the atmosphere with so much energy that it produces a giant cascade of many tens of billions of secondary particles which can be observed by very large detectors on Earth. The particles that produce these giant air showers have been accelerated to far greater energies than can be achieved with terrestrial machines indicating incredibly powerful astronomical accelerators previously unforeseen. The explanation for the origin of these highestenergy particles remains unclear with a number of possibilities being proposed and constrained as the observations accumulate. The possibility that these particles come from the edge of the observable Universe is limited by the presence of the microwave background that fills all of spaceand degrades the energy of such high energy particles. The microwave background limits the location of these fantastic cosmic accelerators to relatively nearby in cosmological terms. The most plausible proposals range from supermassive black holes in centers of nearby galaxies to decaying particles left over from the Big Bang. The goal of this project is to try and find the answer by studying most plausible proposals in detail and model aspects of the propagation from source to Earth. Propagation studies will be intimately related to the knowledge of magnetic fields in the largest scales presently observed and particle physics models of interactions at the highest energies. Among plausible sources, we will investigate many models ranging from the most nearby possibility that these particles are iron accelerated in young neutron stars in the disk of our own Galaxy to the possible effects of large extra-dimensions on the physics of ultra-highenergy cosmic rays. Funding for this project is provided by the NSF program for Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology (AST/EXC).***