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Synchrotron radiation from ultra-high energy protons and the Fermi observations of GRB 080916C

Fermi gamma-ray telescope data of GRB 080916C with ~1e55 erg in apparent isotropic gamma-ray energy, show a several second delay between the rise of 100 MeV - GeV radiation compared with keV - MeV radiation. Here we show that synchrotron radiation from cosmic ray protons accelerated in GRBs, delayed by the proton synchrotron cooling timescale in a jet of magnetically-dominated shocked plasma moving at highly relativistic speeds with bulk Lorentz factor Gamma ~ 500, could explain this result. A second generation electron synchrotron component from attenuated proton synchrotron radiation makes enhanced soft X-ray to MeV gamma-ray emission. Long GRBs with narrow, energetic jets accelerating particles to ultra-high energies could explain the Auger observations of UHE cosmic rays from sources within 100 Mpc for nano-Gauss intergalactic magnetic fields. The total energy requirements in a proton synchrotron model are proportional to Gamma^(16/3). This model for GRB 080916C is only plausible if Gamma ~< 500 and the jet opening angle is ~ 1 degree.