Wakefield acceleration towards ZeV from a black hole emanating astrophysical jets

Abstract

We consider that electromagnetic pulses produced in the jets of this innermost part of the accretion disk accelerate charged particles (protons, ions, electrons) to very high energies via wakefield acceleration, including energies above 10[Formula: see text] eV for the case of protons and nucleus and 10[Formula: see text] eV for electrons by electromagnetic wave-particle interaction. Thereby, the wakefield acceleration mechanism supplements the pervasive Fermi’s stochastic acceleration mechanism (and overcomes its difficulties in the highest energy cosmic ray generation). The episodic eruptive accretion in the disk by the magneto-rotational instability gives rise to the strong Alfvenic pulses, which acts as the driver of the collective accelerating pondermotive force. This pondermotive force drives the wakes. The accelerated hadrons (protons and nuclei) are released to the intergalactic space to be ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The high-energy electrons, on the other hand, emit photons to produce various non-thermal emissions (radio, IR, visible, UV, and gamma-rays) of active galactic nuclei in an episodic manner, giving observational telltale signatures.