COSMIC-RAYS IN AGNS

We obtain constraints on the cosmic ray flux in AGNs by investigating the acceleration mechanisms in an active environment and by considering the propagation of cosmic rays from AGNs to our Galaxy. At energies below 10(19) eV, the observed flux is thought to be mostly of Galactic origin; therefore, the flux coming from all quasars must be much less than the observed flux. We show that cosmic ray luminosities at each AGN with values between 10(43) and 10(46) ergs/s are still allowed, for plausible power-law models. Thus, the intrinsic flux of cosmic rays can be large enough to affect significantly surrounding gas in the broad and the narrow line regions of an AGN.