Galactic magnetic field deflection of high energy astroparticles

The project is aimed at understanding the origin of the most energetic particles in the Universe, the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). They reach energies of more than 10^20 eV, much above the ones that can be obtained at human-made accelerators. They are the messengers of the most violent phenomena in the Universe.

After more than 50-years since their discoveries, their acceleration sites are still unknown.

Some of the difficulties in this quest are posed by the uncertainties in the galactic and extra-galactic magnetic fields that deflect these charged particles, by their low flux, and by the resolution in the measurement of their charge.

With this research project, we propose to revisit the existing modeling of the Galactic magnetic field (GMF) by estimating the model parameters through maximum-likelihood analysis of the most recent data on synchrotron and Faraday rotation measures, and propagate this acquired knowledge to UHECR studies.

We will focus, in the context of the Pierre Auger collaboration, on the inclusion of the effects of magnetic fields in the interpretation of the mass composition, energy spectrum and arrival direction.

Specifically in the interpretation of the dipole pattern and of the studies of the correlation between the starburst galaxies and UHECRs.

These studies will be further developed to predict the performance of next generation detectors such as the Global Cosmic Ray Observatory (GCOS) and POEMMA.