UHECR anisotropy and extragalactic magnetic fields with the Telescope Array

¹ Institute for Nuclear Research, Moscow 117312, Russia
² Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP225, bvd. du Triomphe, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

^* Corresponding author: mkuzn@inr.ac.ru
^** Corresponding author: petr.tiniakov@ulb.be

Published online: 28 April 2023

Abstract

We study the energy-dependent distribution of ultra-high energy cosmic ray arrival directions with respect to luminous matter in the local Universe. We use a specially designed test statistic (TS) that is robust to uncertainties of the galactic magnetic field. We generate realistic mock UHECR sets assuming various injected compositions, and different strengths of the extragalactic magnetic field (EGMF). Applying the TS to both mock sets and the Telescope Array Surface Detector data we constrain, for a given EGMF strength, the UHECR injected mass composition at energies above 10 EeV. At highest energies, higher than 100 EeV, only heavy composition — iron or at least silicon — is compatible with the data, irrespective of the EGMF strength. We then compare the obtained results with the direct Telescope Array fluorescence measurements of the UHECR mass composition. Requiring that the TA composition measurements are compatible with the arrival direction distribution allows us to constrain the parameters of the EGMF. It appears that light composition, measured by TA at around 10 EeV, is compatible with the arrival directions if the EGMF has strength of order 1 nG.