Propagation of Ultrahigh Energy Nuclei in Clusters of Galaxies: Resulting Composition and Secondary Emissions

International audienceWe study the survival of ultrahigh energy nuclei injected in clusters of galaxies, as well as their secondary neutrino and photon emissions, using a complete numerical propagation method and a realistic modeling of the magnetic, baryonic, and photonic backgrounds. It is found that the survival of heavy nuclei highly depends on the injection position and on the profile of the magnetic field. Taking into account the limited lifetime of the central source could also lead in some cases to the detection of a cosmic-ray afterglow, temporally decorrelated from neutrino and gamma-ray emissions. We calculate that the diffusive neutrino flux around 1 PeV coming from clusters of galaxies may have a chance to be detected by current instruments. The observation of single sources in neutrinos and in gamma rays produced by ultrahigh energy cosmic rays will be more difficult. Signals coming from lower energy cosmic rays (E lsim 1 PeV), if they exist, might however be detected by Fermi, for reasonable sets of parameters