Abstract:
Cosmic rays with energies above 10$^{19}$ eV, observed in 1999–2004 by the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) experiment in the stereoscopic mode, were found to correlate with directions to distant BL Lac type objects (BL Lacs), suggesting non-standard neutral particles travelling for cosmological distances without attenuation. This effect could not be tested by newer experiments because of their inferior angular resolution. The distribution in the sky of BL Lacs associated with cosmic rays was found to deviate from isotropy, which might give a clue to the interpretation of the observed anomaly. However, previous studies made use of a sample of BL Lacs which was anisotropic by itself, thus complicating these interpretations. Here, we use a recently compiled isotropic complete sample of BL Lacs and the same HiRes data to confirm the presence of correlations and to strengthen the case for the local large-scale structure pattern in the distribution of the correlated events in the sky. Further tests of the anomaly await new precise cosmic-ray data.
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