TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF ULTRA-HIGH-ENERGY COSMIC RAYS

Abstract

Previously, we have argued that the cosmic magnetic field B c is attributable to the indeterminacy principle, applied to metric fluctuations [Formula: see text] at the time t e ≈4.4×1010h-4 s of equipartition of energy (the last time of dynamical coupling) between matter and radiation in the Universe, stemming from the intrinsic uncertainty in the initial conditions (the phase of the wave function) at the Planck time t P ≈ 5.4×10-44 s, which leads to a present-day magnetic field B c (t0)≈ 10-9 G coherent on the length scale ℓ(t0)≈ 50 Mpc. Here, we discuss this result à propos the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays of energy E ≳ 1020 eV, suggesting that they may be due to nearby radio galaxies within ~ 10 Mpc, the primary components being heavy nuclei of charge Z≳ 10 deflected through large angles.