Acceleration of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays

Some general features of cosmic ray acceleration are summarized along with some inferences that can be drawn concerning the origin of the UHE component. The UHE luminosity density is found to be similar to that derived for GeV cosmic rays and its slope suggests a distinct origin. Reports of clustering on small angular scale, if confirmed, would rule out most proposed source models. More generally, it is argued that the highest energy particles can only be accelerated in sites that can induce an EMF ${\cal E}\go3\times10^{20}$ V and an associated power $L_{min} \go {\cal E}^2/Z\sim10^{39}$ W, where $Z$ is the characteristic, electrical impedance, typically $\lo100Ω$. Shock acceleration, unipolar induction and magnetic flares are the three most potent, observed, acceleration mechanisms and radio jet termination shocks, $γ$-ray blast waves, dormant black holes in galactic nuclei and magnetars are the least implausible, ``conventional'' manifestations of these mechanisms that have been invoked to explain the UHE cosmic rays. Each of these models presents problems and deciding between these and ``exotic'' origins for UHE cosmic rays, including those involving new particles or defects will require improved statistical information on the energies, arrival times and directions, as should be provided by the Auger project.

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