Tidal Disruption Flares as the Source of Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Rays
  The optical spectral energy distributions of two tidal disruption flares
identified by van Velzen et al. (2011) in archival SDSS data, are found to be
well-fit by a thin-accretion-disk model. Furthermore, the inferred Supermassive
Black Hole mass values agree well with the SMBH masses estimated from the host
galaxy properties. Integrating the model SEDs to include shorter wavelength
contributions provides an estimate of the bolometric luminosities of the
accretion disks. The resultant bolometric luminosities are well in excess of
the minimum required for accelerating UHECR protons. In combination with the
recent observational estimate of the TDF rate (van Velzen and Farrar, these
Proceedings), the results presented here strengthen the case that transient
jets formed in tidal disruption events may be responsible for accelerating all
or most UHECRs.
