TY - JOUR A1 - Liebig, Ferenc A1 - Sarhan, Radwan Mohamed A1 - Prietzel, Claudia Christina A1 - Reinecke, Antje A1 - Koetz, Joachim T1 - "Green" gold nanotriangles: synthesis, purification by polyelectrolyte/micelle depletion flocculation and performance in surface-enhanced Raman scattering JF - RSC Advances N2 - The aim of this study was to develop a one-step synthesis of gold nanotriangles (NTs) in the presence of mixed phospholipid vesicles followed by a separation process to isolate purified NTs. Negatively charged vesicles containing AOT and phospholipids, in the absence and presence of additional reducing agents (polyampholytes, polyanions or low molecular weight compounds), were used as a template phase to form anisotropic gold nanoparticles. Upon addition of the gold chloride solution, the nucleation process is initiated and both types of particles, i.e., isotropic spherical and anisotropic gold nanotriangles, are formed simultaneously. As it was not possible to produce monodisperse nanotriangles with such a one-step procedure, the anisotropic nanoparticles needed to be separated from the spherical ones. Therefore, a new type of separation procedure using combined polyelectrolyte/micelle depletion flocculation was successfully applied. As a result of the different purification steps, a green colored aqueous dispersion was obtained containing highly purified, well-defined negatively charged flat nanocrystals with a platelet thickness of 10 nm and an edge length of about 175 nm. The NTs produce promising results in surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6ra04808k SN - 2046-2069 VL - 6 SP - 33561 EP - 33568 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yadavalli, Nataraja Sekhar A1 - Loebner, Sarah A1 - Papke, Thomas A1 - Sava, Elena A1 - Hurduc, Nicolae A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - A comparative study of photoinduced deformation in azobenzene containing polymer films JF - Soft matter N2 - In this paper two groups supporting different views on the mechanism of light induced polymer deformation argue about the respective underlying theoretical conceptions, in order to bring this interesting debate to the attention of the scientific community. The group of Prof. Nicolae Hurduc supports the model claiming that the cyclic isomerization of azobenzenes may cause an athermal transition of the glassy azobenzene containing polymer into a fluid state, the so-called photo-fluidization concept. This concept is quite convenient for an intuitive understanding of the deformation process as an anisotropic flow of the polymer material. The group of Prof. Svetlana Santer supports the re-orientational model where the mass-transport of the polymer material accomplished during polymer deformation is stated to be generated by the light-induced re-orientation of the azobenzene side chains and as a consequence of the polymer backbone that in turn results in local mechanical stress, which is enough to irreversibly deform an azobenzene containing material even in the glassy state. For the debate we chose three polymers differing in the glass transition temperature, 32 degrees C, 87 degrees C and 95 degrees C, representing extreme cases of flexible and rigid materials. Polymer film deformation occurring during irradiation with different interference patterns is recorded using a homemade set-up combining an optical part for the generation of interference patterns and an atomic force microscope for acquiring the kinetics of film deformation. We also demonstrated the unique behaviour of azobenzene containing polymeric films to switch the topography in situ and reversibly by changing the irradiation conditions. We discuss the results of reversible deformation of three polymers induced by irradiation with intensity (IIP) and polarization (PIP) interference patterns, and the light of homogeneous intensity in terms of two approaches: the re-orientational and the photo-fluidization concepts. Both agree in that the formation of opto-mechanically induced stresses is a necessary prerequisite for the process of deformation. Using this argument, the deformation process can be characterized either as a flow or mass transport. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sm00029k SN - 1744-683X SN - 1744-6848 VL - 12 SP - 2593 EP - 2603 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Clusella, Pau A1 - Politi, Antonio A1 - Rosenblum, Michael T1 - A minimal model of self-consistent partial synchrony JF - NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS N2 - We show that self-consistent partial synchrony in globally coupled oscillatory ensembles is a general phenomenon. We analyze in detail appearance and stability properties of this state in possibly the simplest setup of a biharmonic Kuramoto-Daido phase model as well as demonstrate the effect in limit-cycle relaxational Rayleigh oscillators. Such a regime extends the notion of splay state from a uniform distribution of phases to an oscillating one. Suitable collective observables such as the Kuramoto order parameter allow detecting the presence of an inhomogeneous distribution. The characteristic and most peculiar property of self-consistent partial synchrony is the difference between the frequency of single units and that of the macroscopic field. KW - synchronization KW - collective dynamics KW - coupled oscillators Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/9/093037 SN - 1367-2630 VL - 18 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neher, Dieter A1 - Kniepert, Juliane A1 - Elimelech, Arik A1 - Koster, L. Jan Anton T1 - A New Figure of Merit for Organic Solar Cells with Transport-limited Photocurrents JF - Scientific reports N2 - Compared to their inorganic counterparts, organic semiconductors suffer from relatively low charge carrier mobilities. Therefore, expressions derived for inorganic solar cells to correlate characteristic performance parameters to material properties are prone to fail when applied to organic devices. This is especially true for the classical Shockley-equation commonly used to describe current-voltage (JV)-curves, as it assumes a high electrical conductivity of the charge transporting material. Here, an analytical expression for the JV-curves of organic solar cells is derived based on a previously published analytical model. This expression, bearing a similar functional dependence as the Shockley-equation, delivers a new figure of merit a to express the balance between free charge recombination and extraction in low mobility photoactive materials. This figure of merit is shown to determine critical device parameters such as the apparent series resistance and the fill factor. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24861 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 SP - E2348 EP - E2349 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neher, Dieter A1 - Kniepert, Juliane A1 - Elimelech, Arik A1 - Koster, L. Jan Anton T1 - A New Figure of Merit for Organic Solar Cells with Transport-limited Photocurrents JF - Scientific reports N2 - Compared to their inorganic counterparts, organic semiconductors suffer from relatively low charge carrier mobilities. Therefore, expressions derived for inorganic solar cells to correlate characteristic performance parameters to material properties are prone to fail when applied to organic devices. This is especially true for the classical Shockley-equation commonly used to describe current-voltage (JV)-curves, as it assumes a high electrical conductivity of the charge transporting material. Here, an analytical expression for the JV-curves of organic solar cells is derived based on a previously published analytical model. This expression, bearing a similar functional dependence as the Shockley-equation, delivers a new figure of merit α to express the balance between free charge recombination and extraction in low mobility photoactive materials. This figure of merit is shown to determine critical device parameters such as the apparent series resistance and the fill factor. KW - Electronic and spintronic devices KW - Semiconductors Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24861 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abeysekara, A. U. A1 - Archambault, S. A1 - Archer, A. A1 - Benbow, W. A1 - Bird, R. A1 - Buchovecky, M. A1 - Buckley, J. H. A1 - Byrum, K. A1 - Cardenzana, J. V. A1 - Cerruti, M. A1 - Chen, Xuhui A1 - Christiansen, J. L. A1 - Ciupik, L. A1 - Cui, W. A1 - Dickinson, H. J. A1 - Eisch, J. D. A1 - Errando, M. A1 - Falcone, A. A1 - Fegan, D. J. A1 - Feng, Q. A1 - Finley, J. P. A1 - Fleischhack, H. A1 - Fortin, P. A1 - Fortson, L. A1 - Furniss, A. A1 - Gillanders, G. H. A1 - Griffin, S. A1 - Grube, J. A1 - Gyuk, G. A1 - Huetten, M. A1 - Hakansson, Nils A1 - Hanna, D. A1 - Holder, J. A1 - Humensky, T. B. A1 - Johnson, C. A. A1 - Kaaret, P. A1 - Kar, P. A1 - Kelley-Hoskins, N. A1 - Kertzman, M. A1 - Kieda, D. A1 - Krause, M. A1 - Krennrich, F. A1 - Kumar, S. A1 - Lang, M. J. A1 - Lin, T. T. Y. A1 - Maier, G. A1 - McArthur, S. A1 - McCann, A. A1 - Meagher, K. A1 - Moriarty, P. A1 - Mukherjee, R. A1 - Nieto, D. A1 - Ong, R. A. A1 - Otte, A. N. A1 - Park, N. A1 - Perkins, J. S. A1 - Petrashyk, A. A1 - Pohl, Martin A1 - Popkow, A. A1 - Pueschel, Elisa A1 - Quinn, J. A1 - Ragan, K. A1 - Ratliff, G. A1 - Reynolds, P. T. A1 - Richards, G. T. A1 - Roache, E. A1 - Santander, M. A1 - Sembroski, G. H. A1 - Shahinyan, K. A1 - Staszak, D. A1 - Telezhinsky, Igor O. A1 - Tucci, J. V. A1 - Tyler, J. A1 - Vincent, S. A1 - Wakely, S. P. A1 - Weiner, O. M. A1 - Weinstein, A. A1 - Williams, D. A. A1 - Zitzer, B. T1 - A SEARCH FOR BRIEF OPTICAL FLASHES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SETI TARGET KIC 8462852 JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters N2 - The F-type star KIC. 8462852 has recently been identified as an exceptional target for search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) observations. We describe an analysis methodology for optical SETI, which we have used to analyze nine hours of serendipitous archival observations of KIC. 8462852 made with the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory between 2009 and 2015. No evidence of pulsed optical beacons, above a pulse intensity at the Earth of approximately 1 photon m(-2), is found. We also discuss the potential use of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays in searching for extremely short duration optical transients in general. KW - astrobiology KW - extraterrestrial intelligence KW - methods: observational KW - stars: individual ( KIC 8462852) KW - techniques: photometric Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L33 SN - 2041-8205 SN - 2041-8213 VL - 818 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aliu, E. A1 - Archambault, S. A1 - Archer, A. A1 - Benbow, W. A1 - Bird, R. A1 - Biteau, Jonathan A1 - Buchovecky, M. A1 - Buckley, J. H. A1 - Bugaev, V. A1 - Byrum, K. A1 - Cardenzana, J. V. A1 - Cerruti, M. A1 - Chen, Xuhui A1 - Ciupik, L. A1 - Connolly, M. P. A1 - Cui, W. A1 - Dickinson, H. J. A1 - Eisch, J. D. A1 - Falcone, A. A1 - Feng, Q. A1 - Finley, J. P. A1 - Fleischhack, H. A1 - Flinders, A. A1 - Fortin, P. A1 - Fortson, L. A1 - Furniss, A. A1 - Gillanders, G. H. A1 - Griffin, S. A1 - Grube, J. A1 - Gyuk, G. A1 - Huetten, M. A1 - Hakansson, Nils A1 - Holder, J. A1 - Humensky, T. B. A1 - Johnson, C. A. A1 - Kaaret, P. A1 - Kar, P. A1 - Kelley-Hoskins, N. A1 - Kertzman, M. A1 - Kieda, D. A1 - Krause, M. A1 - Lang, M. J. A1 - Loo, A. A1 - Maier, G. A1 - McArthur, S. A1 - McCann, A. A1 - Meagher, K. A1 - Moriarty, P. A1 - Mukherjee, R. A1 - Nguyen, T. A1 - Nieto, D. A1 - Ong, R. A. A1 - Otte, A. N. A1 - Pandel, D. A1 - Park, N. A1 - Pelassa, V. A1 - Petrashyk, A. A1 - Pohl, M. A1 - Popkow, A. A1 - Pueschel, Elisa A1 - Quinn, J. A1 - Ragan, K. A1 - Reynolds, P. T. A1 - Richards, G. T. A1 - Roache, E. A1 - Rulten, C. A1 - Santander, M. A1 - Sembroski, G. H. A1 - Shahinyan, K. A1 - Smith, A. W. A1 - Staszak, D. A1 - Telezhinsky, Igor O. A1 - Tucci, J. V. A1 - Tyler, J. A1 - Varlotta, A. A1 - Vincent, S. A1 - Wakely, S. P. A1 - Weiner, O. M. A1 - Weinstein, A. A1 - Wilhelm, Alina A1 - Williams, D. A. A1 - Zitzer, B. A1 - Chernyakova, M. A1 - Roberts, M. S. E. T1 - A SEARCH FOR VERY HIGH ENERGY GAMMA RAYS FROM THE MISSING LINK BINARY PULSAR J1023+0038 WITH VERITAS JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - The binary millisecond radio pulsar PSR J1023+0038 exhibits many characteristics similar to the gamma-ray binary system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883, making it an ideal candidate for the study of high-energy nonthermal emission. It has been the subject of multiwavelength campaigns following the disappearance of the pulsed radio emission in 2013 June, which revealed the appearance of an accretion disk around the neutron star. We present the results of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations carried out by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System before and after this change of state. Searches for steady and pulsed emission of both data sets yield no significant gamma-ray signal above 100 GeV, and upper limits are given for both a steady and pulsed gamma-ray flux. These upper limits are used to constrain the magnetic field strength in the shock region of the PSR J1023+0038 system. Assuming that VHE gamma rays are produced via an inverse Compton mechanism in the shock region, we constrain the shock magnetic field to be greater than similar to 2 G before the disappearance of the radio pulsar and greater than similar to 10 G afterward. KW - binaries: general KW - gamma rays: general KW - pulsars: general KW - pulsars: individual (PSR J1023+0038) Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/831/2/193 SN - 0004-637X SN - 1538-4357 VL - 831 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Levermann, Anders A1 - Winkelmann, Ricarda T1 - A simple equation for the melt elevation feedback of ice sheets JF - The Cryosphere : TC ; an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union N2 - In recent decades, the Greenland Ice Sheet has been losing mass and has thereby contributed to global sea-level rise. The rate of ice loss is highly relevant for coastal protection worldwide. The ice loss is likely to increase under future warming. Beyond a critical temperature threshold, a meltdown of the Greenland Ice Sheet is induced by the self-enforcing feedback between its lowering surface elevation and its increasing surface mass loss: the more ice that is lost, the lower the ice surface and the warmer the surface air temperature, which fosters further melting and ice loss. The computation of this rate so far relies on complex numerical models which are the appropriate tools for capturing the complexity of the problem. By contrast we aim here at gaining a conceptual understanding by deriving a purposefully simple equation for the self-enforcing feedback which is then used to estimate the melt time for different levels of warming using three observable characteristics of the ice sheet itself and its surroundings. The analysis is purely conceptual in nature. It is missing important processes like ice dynamics for it to be useful for applications to sea-level rise on centennial timescales, but if the volume loss is dominated by the feedback, the resulting logarithmic equation unifies existing numerical simulations and shows that the melt time depends strongly on the level of warming with a critical slow-down near the threshold: the median time to lose 10% of the present-day ice volume varies between about 3500 years for a temperature level of 0.5 degrees C above the threshold and 500 years for 5 degrees C. Unless future observations show a significantly higher melting sensitivity than currently observed, a complete meltdown is unlikely within the next 2000 years without significant ice-dynamical contributions. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1799-2016 SN - 1994-0416 SN - 1994-0424 VL - 10 SP - 1799 EP - 1807 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schwarzl, Maria A1 - Godec, Aljaz A1 - Oshanin, Gleb A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - A single predator charging a herd of prey: effects of self volume and predator-prey decision-making JF - Journal of physics : A, Mathematical and theoretical N2 - We study the degree of success of a single predator hunting a herd of prey on a two-dimensional square lattice landscape. We explicitly consider the self volume of the prey restraining their dynamics on the lattice. The movement of both predator and prey is chosen to include an intelligent, decision making step based on their respective sighting ranges, the radius in which they can detect the other species (prey cannot recognise each other besides the self volume interaction): after spotting each other the motion of prey and predator turns from a nearest neighbour random walk into directed escape or chase, respectively. We consider a large range of prey densities and sighting ranges and compute the mean first passage time for a predator to catch a prey as well as characterise the effective dynamics of the hunted prey. We find that the prey's sighting range dominates their life expectancy and the predator profits more from a bad eyesight of the prey than from his own good eye sight. We characterise the dynamics in terms of the mean distance between the predator and the nearest prey. It turns out that effectively the dynamics of this distance coordinate can be captured in terms of a simple Ornstein–Uhlenbeck picture. Reducing the many-body problem to a simple two-body problem by imagining predator and nearest prey to be connected by an effective Hookean bond, all features of the model such as prey density and sighting ranges merge into the effective binding constant. KW - first passage process KW - diffusion KW - predator-prey model Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8113/49/22/225601 SN - 1751-8113 SN - 1751-8121 VL - 49 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abramowski, Attila A1 - Aharonian, Felix A. A1 - Benkhali, Faical Ait A1 - Akhperjanian, A. G. A1 - Angüner, Ekrem Oǧuzhan A1 - Backes, Michael A1 - Balzer, Arnim A1 - Becherini, Yvonne A1 - Tjus, J. Becker A1 - Berge, David A1 - Bernhard, Sabrina A1 - Bernlöhr, K. A1 - Birsin, E. A1 - Blackwell, R. A1 - Boettcher, Markus A1 - Boisson, Catherine A1 - Bolmont, J. A1 - Bordas, Pol A1 - Bregeon, Johan A1 - Brun, Francois A1 - Brun, Pierre A1 - Bryan, Mark A1 - Bulik, Tomasz A1 - Carr, John A1 - Casanova, Sabrina A1 - Chakraborty, N. A1 - Chalme-Calvet, R. A1 - Chaves, Ryan C. G. A1 - Chen, Andrew A1 - Chretien, M. A1 - Colafrancesco, Sergio A1 - Cologna, Gabriele A1 - Conrad, Jan A1 - Couturier, C. A1 - Cui, Y. A1 - Davids, I. D. A1 - Degrange, B. A1 - Deil, C. A1 - deWilt, P. A1 - Djannati-Ata, A. A1 - Domainko, W. A1 - Donath, A. A1 - Dubus, G. A1 - Dutson, K. A1 - Dyks, J. A1 - Dyrda, M. A1 - Edwards, T. A1 - Egberts, Kathrin A1 - Eger, P. A1 - Ernenwein, J-P. A1 - Espigat, P. A1 - Farnier, C. A1 - Fegan, S. A1 - Feinstein, F. A1 - Fernandes, M. V. A1 - Fernandez, D. A1 - Fiasson, A. A1 - Fontaine, G. A1 - Foerster, A. A1 - Fuessling, M. A1 - Gabici, S. A1 - Gajdus, M. A1 - Gallant, Y. A. A1 - Garrigoux, T. A1 - Giavitto, G. A1 - Giebels, B. A1 - Glicenstein, J. F. A1 - Gottschall, D. A1 - Goyal, A. A1 - Grondin, M-H. A1 - Grudzinska, M. A1 - Hadasch, D. A1 - Haeffner, S. A1 - Hahn, J. A1 - Hawkes, J. A1 - Heinzelmann, G. A1 - Henri, G. A1 - Hermann, G. A1 - Hervet, O. A1 - Hillert, A. A1 - Hinton, James Anthony A1 - Hofmann, W. A1 - Hofverberg, P. A1 - Hoischen, Clemens A1 - Holler, M. A1 - Horns, D. A1 - Ivascenko, A. A1 - Jacholkowska, A. A1 - Jamrozy, M. A1 - Janiak, M. A1 - Jankowsky, F. A1 - Jung-Richardt, I. A1 - Kastendieck, M. A. A1 - Katarzynski, K. A1 - Katz, U. A1 - Kerszberg, D. A1 - Khelifi, B. A1 - Kieffer, M. A1 - Klepser, S. A1 - Klochkov, D. A1 - Kluzniak, W. A1 - Kolitzus, D. A1 - Komin, Nu. A1 - Kosack, K. A1 - Krakau, S. A1 - Krayzel, F. A1 - Krueger, P. P. A1 - Laffon, H. A1 - Lamanna, G. A1 - Lau, J. A1 - Lefaucheur, J. A1 - Lefranc, V. A1 - Lemiere, A. A1 - Lemoine-Goumard, M. A1 - Lenain, J-P. A1 - Lohse, T. A1 - Lopatin, A. A1 - Lu, C-C. A1 - Lui, R. A1 - Marandon, V. A1 - Marcowith, Alexandre A1 - Mariaud, C. A1 - Marx, R. A1 - Maurin, G. A1 - Maxted, N. A1 - Mayer, M. A1 - Meintjes, P. J. A1 - Menzler, U. A1 - Meyer, M. A1 - Mitchell, A. M. W. A1 - Moderski, R. A1 - Mohamed, M. A1 - Mora, K. A1 - Moulin, Emmanuel A1 - Murach, T. A1 - de Naurois, M. A1 - Niemiec, J. A1 - Oakes, L. A1 - Odaka, H. A1 - Oettl, S. A1 - Ohm, S. A1 - Opitz, B. A1 - Ostrowski, M. A1 - Oya, I. A1 - Panter, M. A1 - Parsons, R. D. A1 - Arribas, M. Paz A1 - Pekeur, N. W. A1 - Pelletier, G. A1 - Petrucci, P-O. A1 - Peyaud, B. A1 - Pita, S. A1 - Poon, H. A1 - Prokoph, H. A1 - Puehlhofer, G. A1 - Punch, M. A1 - Quirrenbach, A. A1 - Raab, S. A1 - Reichardt, I. A1 - Reimer, A. A1 - Reimer, O. A1 - Renaud, M. A1 - de los Reyes, R. A1 - Rieger, F. A1 - Romoli, C. A1 - Rosier-Lees, S. A1 - Rowell, G. A1 - Rudak, B. A1 - Rulten, C. B. A1 - Sahakian, V. A1 - Salek, D. A1 - Sanchez, David M. A1 - Santangelo, A. A1 - Sasaki, M. A1 - Schlickeiser, R. A1 - Schuessler, F. A1 - Schulz, A. A1 - Schwanke, U. A1 - Schwemmer, S. A1 - Seyffert, A. S. A1 - Simoni, R. A1 - Sol, H. A1 - Spanier, F. A1 - Spengler, G. A1 - Spies, F. A1 - Stawarz, L. A1 - Steenkamp, R. A1 - Stegmann, Christian A1 - Stinzing, F. A1 - Stycz, K. A1 - Sushch, Iurii A1 - Tavernet, J-P. A1 - Tavernier, T. A1 - Taylor, A. M. A1 - Terrier, R. A1 - Tluczykont, M. A1 - Trichard, C. A1 - Tuffs, R. A1 - Valerius, K. A1 - van der Walt, J. A1 - van Eldik, C. A1 - van Soelen, B. A1 - Vasileiadis, G. A1 - Veh, J. A1 - Venter, C. A1 - Viana, A. A1 - Vincent, P. A1 - Vink, J. A1 - Voisin, F. A1 - Voelk, H. J. A1 - Vuillaume, T. A1 - Wagner, S. J. A1 - Wagner, P. A1 - Wagner, R. M. A1 - Weidinger, M. A1 - Weitzel, Q. A1 - White, R. A1 - Wierzcholska, A. A1 - Willmann, P. A1 - Woernlein, A. A1 - Wouters, D. A1 - Yang, R. A1 - Zabalza, V. A1 - Zaborov, D. A1 - Zacharias, M. A1 - Zdziarski, A. A. A1 - Zech, Alraune A1 - Zefi, F. A1 - Zywucka, N. T1 - Acceleration of petaelectronvolt protons in the Galactic Centre JF - Nature : the international weekly journal of science N2 - Galactic cosmic rays reach energies of at least a few petaelectronvolts (of the order of 1015 electronvolts). This implies that our Galaxy contains petaelectronvolt accelerators (‘PeVatrons’), but all proposed models of Galactic cosmic-ray accelerators encounter difficulties at exactly these energies. Dozens of Galactic accelerators capable of accelerating particles to energies of tens of teraelectronvolts (of the order of 1013 electronvolts) were inferred from recent γ-ray observations3. However, none of the currently known accelerators—not even the handful of shell-type supernova remnants commonly believed to supply most Galactic cosmic rays—has shown the characteristic tracers of petaelectronvolt particles, namely, power-law spectra of γ-rays extending without a cut-off or a spectral break to tens of teraelectronvolts4. Here we report deep γ-ray observations with arcminute angular resolution of the region surrounding the Galactic Centre, which show the expected tracer of the presence of petaelectronvolt protons within the central 10 parsecs of the Galaxy. We propose that the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is linked to this PeVatron. Sagittarius A* went through active phases in the past, as demonstrated by X-ray outbursts5and an outflow from the Galactic Centre6. Although its current rate of particle acceleration is not sufficient to provide a substantial contribution to Galactic cosmic rays, Sagittarius A* could have plausibly been more active over the last 106–107 years, and therefore should be considered as a viable alternative to supernova remnants as a source of petaelectronvolt Galactic cosmic rays. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17147 SN - 0028-0836 SN - 1476-4687 VL - 531 SP - 476 EP - + PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER -