Xavier Rodrigues DESY-Zeuthen

Numerical simulations of radiation processes in AGN(pdf)

Possible extragalactic sources for the most energetic cosmic rays (CR) observed include gamma-ray bursts (GRB), starburst galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN). In the last case, a supermassive black hole powers two relativistic jets, where charged particles may be accelerated by the plasma to ultra-high energies. We apply NeuCosmA, a code originally developed for the simulation of nucleon cascades in GRB, to the case of AGN, a system with rather distinct physical parameters. One of the aims of this work is to study the influence of mass composition on typical observables of AGN, such as the escaping CR and neutrino spectra. In particular, if heavier nuclei are present in the system, they will interact with the environment photon field and undergo disintegration, producing additional CR and neutrinos -- a possibility which has not been very widely explored in the past.