Patterns in ultra-high energy cosmic ray arrival directions: a possible footprint of large scale cosmic structures

The public available data of cosmic ray arrival directions with energies above 4 x 10{sup 19} eV present a broad maximum in the cumulative two-point autocorrelation function around 25 degrees. This has been interpreted as the first imprint of the filamentary pattern of large scale structures (LSS) of matter in the near universe. We analyze this suggestion in light of the clustering properties expected from a catalogue of galaxies of the local universe (redshift z {approx}< 0:06). The data reproduce particularly well the clustering properties of the nearby universe within z {approx}< 0:02. There is no statistically significant cross-correlation between data and structures, although intriguingly the nominal cross-correlation chance probability for displacements within {approx}50 degree drops from O(50%) to O(10%) using the catalogue with a smaller horizon. Our results suggest a relevant role of magnetic fields (possibly extragalactic ones, too) and/or possibly some heavy nuclei fraction in the ultra-high energy cosmic rays