* Astronomy

Title: Giant AGN Flares and Cosmic Ray Bursts
Authors: Glennys R. Farrar, Andrei Gruzinov
(Version v2)

We predict a new class of intense, short-duration AGN flares resulting from the tidal disruption of a star or from a disk instability, and show that the rate and power of these flares can readily explain the observed flux and distribution of the highest energy cosmic rays. We describe the photon bursts produced by such AGN flares and show that they may soon be detectable.

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