High energy cosmic-rays from gamma-ray burst sources: A stronger case

Abstract

The suggested association between the sources of gamma-ray bursts (GRB's) and the sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR's) is based on two arguments: (i) The average energy generation rate of UHECR's is similar to the gamma-ray generation rate of GRB's, and (ii) The constraints that UHECR sources must satisfy to allow proton acceleration to >10^{20} eV are similar to those inferred for GRB sources from gamma-ray observations. We show that recent GRB and UHECR observations strengthen both arguments, and hence strengthen the suggested association.

Comments: Arguments strengthened by the inclusion of updated constraints on GRB rate and model parameters, based on new afterglow data and analysis. Accepted to ApJ