Related papers: The beginning of cosmic ray astronomy
The starburst galaxies M82 and NGC253 have been proposed as the primary sources of cosmic rays with energies above $10^{18.7}$ eV. For energies $\agt 10^{20.3}$ eV the model predicts strong anisotropies. We calculate the probabilities that…
Annihilation of clumped superheavy dark matter provides an interesting explanation for the origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. The predicted anisotropy signal provides a unique signature for this scenario.
Despite their discovery potential touching a wide range of science, construction of TeV gamma-ray telescopes, Auger, IceCube and a suite of other particle astrophysics experiments has been largely motivated by the hunt for the sources of…
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…
The goal of the Pierre Auger Observatory is to determine the still unknown nature and origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The study of these elusive particles probes astrophysical sites of particle acceleration as well as fundamental…
A thorough search for large scale anisotropies in the distribution of arrival directions of cosmic rays detected above $10^{18}$ eV at the Pierre Auger Observatory is reported. For the first time, these large scale anisotropy searches are…
We present a brief introduction to the physics of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs), concentrating on the experimental results obtained so far and on what, from these results, can be inferred about the sources of UHECRs.
The arguments surrounding the Galactic component of the cosmic rays, the energy budget, questions of composition, spectral features, anisotropy, sources etc, will be critically examined. We are moving into a new phase in the study of the…
We study the anisotropy in the arrival directions of PAO UHECRs, using the point source correlational angular distance distribution. The result shows that the anisotropy is characterized by one prominent excess region and one void region.…
Since more than a century we investigate cosmic particles coming from the Universe with the aim of understanding their nature, their origin and how they are accelerated. So far, cosmic rays have provided many impressive results, giving…
The sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are not yet known. However, the discovery of anisotropic cosmic rays above 57x10^18 eV by the Pierre Auger Observatory suggests that a direct source detection may soon be possible. The…
Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are atomic nuclei from space with vastly higher energies than any other particles ever observed. Their origin and chemical composition remain a mystery. As we show here, the large- and…
The physics results of high energy gamma-ray astronomy are reported, emphasizing recent achievements with ground-based detectors. This includes some of the instrumental developments and latest projects. The fundamental contribution of the…
Great advances have been made in the study of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) in the past two decades. These include the discovery of the spectral cut-off near 5 x 10^19 eV and complex structure at lower energies, as well as…
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are particles, likely protons and/or nuclei, with energies up to $10^{20}$ eV that are observed through the giant air showers they produce in the atmosphere. These particles carry the information on…
We describe the pioneering contributions of Thomas K. Gaisser to the birth and development of particle astrophysics, a new field of research at the intersection of cosmic ray physics, astronomy, astrophysics, and particle physics that has…
After over 60 years, the powerful engines that accelerate ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) to the formidable energies at which we observe them from Earth remain mysterious. Assuming standard physics, we expect UHECR sources to lie…
The origin of galactic cosmic rays is one of the most interesting unsolved problems in astroparticle physics. Experimentally, the problem is attacked by a multi-disciplinary effort, namely by direct measurements of cosmic rays above the…
The study of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) has recently experienced a jump in statistics as well as improved instrumentation. This has allowed a better sensitivity in searching for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic…
The last decade has been dense with new developments in the search for the sources of Galactic cosmic rays. Some of these developments have confirmed the tight connection between cosmic rays and supernovae in our Galaxy, through the…