Related papers: Detectors for Cosmic Rays on Ground and in Space
Following the discovery of the cosmic rays by Victor Hess in 1912, more than 70 years and numerous technological developments were needed before an unambiguous detection of the first very-high-energy gamma-ray source in 1989 was made. Since…
The origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above E > 1017eV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. This is a…
Cosmic-rays with energies exceeding 10^{19} eV are referred to as Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs). The sources of these particles and their acceleration mechanism are unknown, and for many years have been the issue of much debate.…
We speculate that a new generation of particle astrophysics instrumentation will reveal the enigmatic sources of cosmic rays prior to the one hundredth anniversary of their discovery by Hess in 1912. While only a "smoking gun'' is missing…
We introduce neutrino astronomy from the observational fact that Nature accelerates protons and photons to energies in excess of 10^{20} and 10^{13} eV, respectively. Although the discovery of cosmic rays dates back close to a century, we…
Physicists have pondered the origin of cosmic rays for over a hundred years. However the last few years have seen an upsurge in the observation, progress in the theory and a genuine increase in the importance attached to the topic due to…
One century ago Viktor Hess carried out several balloon flights that led him to conclude that the penetrating radiation responsible for the discharge of electroscopes was of extraterrestrial origin. One century from the discovery of this…
In 2012, physicists and astronomers celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the detection of cosmic rays by Viktor Hess. One year later, in 2013, there was first evidence for extraterrestrial high-energy neutrinos, i.e. for signal which may…
We introduce neutrino astronomy starting from the observational fact that Nature accelerates protons and photons to energies in excess of 10^{20} and 10^{13} eV, respectively. Although the discovery of cosmic rays dates back a century, we…
Although cosmic rays were discovered a century ago, we do not know where or how they are accelerated. There is a realistic hope that the oldest problem in astronomy will be solved soon by ambitious experimentation: air shower arrays of…
Cosmic rays were discovered by Victor Hess in 1912 through their effect on the conductivity of the atmosphere. It took several decades of research to understand their nature and composition. The photographic method of particle detection,…
The Pierre Auger Observatory has been detecting ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) for more than fifteen years. An essential feature of the Observatory is its hybrid design: cosmic rays above $100~$PeV are detected through the…
The origin of cosmic rays is one of the major unresolved questions in astrophysics. In particular, the highest energy cosmic rays observed possess macroscopic energies and their origin is likely associated with the most energetic processes…
Between 1900 and 1913 several people were investigating about the unknown radiation, later identified as Cosmic Rays. Several experimentalist tried to identify the origin of this radiation and in particular Victor Franz Hess, Theodor Wulf…
Since astrophysical neutrinos are produced in the interactions of cosmic rays, identifying the origin of cosmic rays using directional correlations with neutrinos is one of the most interesting possibilities of the field. For that purpose,…
The search for the sources of cosmic rays is a three-fold assault, using charged cosmic rays, gamma rays and neutrinos. The first conceptual ideas to detect high energy neutrinos date back to the late fifties. The long evolution towards…
Even 100 years after the discovery of cosmic rays their origin remains a mystery. In recent years, TeV gamma-ray detectors have discovered and investigated many Galactic sources where particles are accelerated up to energies of 100 TeV.…
The origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is one of the most intriguing mysteries in astroparticle physics and high-energy physics. Since UHECRs with light mass compositions are less deflected by the Galactic and extragalactic…
We review the basic ideas on the origin of cosmic rays with energy in excess of $\sim 10^{19}$ eV, in the light of the most recent observational findings. The limited statistics of events detected by the two largest experiments currently…
Recent international efforts have brought us closer to unveiling the century old mystery of the origin of cosmic rays. Cosmic ray, gamma ray, and neutrino observatories are reaching the necessary sensitivity to study the highest energy…