Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Acceleration in Engine-driven Relativistic Supernovae

Understand

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays remains an enigma.

• They offer a window to new physics, including tests of physical laws relevant to their propagation and interactions, at energies unattainable by terrestrial accelerators.
• They must be accelerated locally, as otherwise background radiations would severely suppress the flux of protons and nuclei, at energies above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) limit.
• Nearby Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), Hypernovae, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and their flares, have all been suggested and debated as possible sources.