Related papers: Particle acceleration in relativistic subluminal s…
The acceleration of ultrahigh energy nuclei in fast spinning newborn pulsars can explain the observed spectrum of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and the trend towards heavier nuclei for energies above $10^{19}\,$eV as reported by the Auger…
In this paper intergalatic electromagnetic cascades are used as a probe of cosmic ray sources. This is achieved as follows. In extragalactic space cosmic rays initiate electromagnetic cascades in which gamma-ray and neutrino emission…
Here is reviewed our current understanding of Galactic and extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray emission. The spectrum of the extragalactic gamma-ray background above 30 MeV can be well described by a power law with photon index s=2.1. In the…
Air shower experiments have detected cosmic ray events of energies upto 300 EeV. Most likely these cosmic rays have originated from compact objects. Their exact sources are yet to be identified. It has been suggested before that gamma ray…
Gamma-ray bursts and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays provide an important testing ground for fundamental physics. A simple-minded analysis of some gamma-ray bursts would lead to a huge estimate of the overall energy emitted, and this…
Particle acceleration occurs on a range of scales from AU in the heliosphere to Mpc in clusters of galaxies and to energies ranging from MeV to EeV. A number of acceleration processes have been proposed, but diffusive shock acceleration…
Collisionless shock waves, found in supernova remnants, interstellar, stellar, and planetary environments, and laboratories, are one of nature's most powerful particle accelerators. This study combines in situ satellite measurements with…
The sharp change in slope of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) spectrum around 10^{18.6} eV (the ankle), combined with evidence of a light but extragalactic component near and below the ankle which evolves to intermediate composition…
The origin and nature of the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays remains a mystery. However, considerable progress has been achieved in past years due to observations performed by the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array. Above $10^{18}$…
We use a kinetic-equation approach to describe the propagation of ultra high energy cosmic ray protons and nuclei and calculate the expected spectra and mass composition at the Earth for different assumptions on the source injection spectra…
We examine Fermi-type acceleration at relativistic shocks, and distinguish between the initial boost of the first shock crossing cycle, where the energy gain per particle can be very large, and the Fermi process proper with repeated shock…
Understanding the origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) - which reach energies in excess of $10^{20}~{\rm eV}$ - stretches particle acceleration physics to its very limits. In this review, we discuss how such energies can be…
We derive the maximum accelerated particle energy from first-order and second-order Fermi acceleration at nonrelativistic and relativistic shocks for explosions taking place in a uniform surrounding medium. Second-order stochastic processes…
Accretion and merger shocks in clusters of galaxies are potential accelerators of high-energy protons, which can give rise to high-energy neutrinos through pp interactions with the intracluster gas. We discuss the possibility that protons…
We consider the acceleration of charged particles near ultra-relativistic shocks, with Lorentz factor Gamma_s >> 1. We present simulations of the acceleration process and compare these with results from semi-analytical calculations. We show…
Ongoing experimental efforts to detect cosmic sources of high energy neutrinos are guided by the expectation that astrophysical accelerators of cosmic ray protons would also generate neutrinos through interactions with ambient matter and/or…
Pulsar Wind Nebulae are the astrophysical sources that host the most relativistic shocks in Nature and the only Galactic sources in which we have direct evidence of PeV particles. These facts make them very interesting from the point of…
(Abridged) We interpret gamma ray bursts as relativistic, electromagnetic explosions. Specifically, we propose that they are created when a rotating, relativistic, stellar-mass progenitor loses much of its rotational energy in the form of a…
The origin of cosmic rays in our Galaxy remains a subject of active debate. While supernova remnant shocks are often invoked as the sites of acceleration, it is now widely accepted that the difficulties of such sources in reaching PeV…
It has been suggested that relativistic shocks in extragalactic sources may accelerate the most energetic cosmic rays. However, recent theoretical advances indicating that relativistic shocks are probably unable to accelerate particles to…