Speaker
Description
We investigate ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) in active galactic nuclei (AGN) as potential sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), focusing on cosmic-ray nuclei, an aspect not explored previously. These large-scale, mildly-relativistic outflows are a common feature of AGN. We study the cosmic-ray spectrum and maximum energy attainable in these environments with 3D CRPropa simulations and apply our method to 87 observed UFOs. Nuclei can be accelerated up to $100\,$EeV at the wind-termination shock in some UFOs, but their escaping flux is strongly attenuated due to photonuclear interactions with intense AGN photon fields. In the most extreme $\sim10\%$ of UFOs in our sample, nuclei can escape with energy exceeding $\sim500\,$PeV. In contrast, protons typically escape UFOs with only mild attenuation, with half of the observed UFOs reaching ultra-high energies. We show that UFOs can explain the observed UHECR flux in the transition region below the ankle and potentially contribute to the flux of cosmic-ray nuclei up to the highest energies. An important multimessenger signature is provided by the PeV astrophysical neutrinos expected from interactions of the accelerated cosmic rays in the UFOs.
