Related papers: Cosmic Rays from the Knee to the Highest Energies
The field of high energy particle astronomy is exciting and rapidly developing. In the last few years, we have detected extragalactic sources of intense TeV gamma radiation and individual cosmic ray particles with energies exceeding 25…
It is proposed that the highest energy $\sim 10^{20}$eV cosmic ray primaries are protons, decay products of a long-lived progenitor which has propagated from typically $\sim 100$Mpc. Such a scenario can occur in e.g. SU(15) grand…
I discuss recent advances being made in the physics and astrophysics of cosmic rays and cosmic gamma-rays at the highest observed energies as well as the related physics and astrophysics of very high energy cosmic neutrinos. I also discuss…
An overview is given on the present status of the understanding of the origin of galactic cosmic rays. Recent measurements of charged cosmic rays and photons are reviewed. Their impact on the contemporary knowledge about the sources and…
Understanding the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays (CRs) is essential to make sense of the Local cosmic ray spectrum. Several models have been proposed to account for this transition in the 0.1 - 10 $\times 10^{18}$ eV…
A sudden steepening of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum (the knee) is observed at an energy of about 3 PeV (1 PeV = 10$^{15}$eV). The recent results on extensive air showers allow us to conclude that: a) the knee has an astrophysical origin;…
In a comprehensive model of Cosmic Rays (CRs) proposed a decade ago, the energies of the spectral "knees" of the various CR species were predicted to be proportional to mass, rather than charge. The model also predicts the knees to occur at…
Recent results from the KASCADE experiment on measurements of cosmic rays in the energy range of the knee are presented. Emphasis is placed on energy spectra of individual mass groups as obtained from an two-dimensional unfolding applied to…
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…
Research in cosmic rays is now nearly a century old, but most of the fundamental questions in this field remain unanswered, on the other hand the perspectives of future studies in the next decade are very bright. New detectors will provide…
We will discuss the main relevant aspects of the physics of ultra high energy cosmic rays. After a short recap of the experimental evidences, we will review theoretical models aiming at describing the sources of these extremely energetic…
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…
A brief review of the energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays above $10^{10}$ eV and the measurement techniques used to investigate the ultra high energy ones is given. This is followed by a discussion of the atmospheric shower profile of…
Recent measurements of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos are briefly reviewed. With several new large scale observatories nearing completion or becoming fully operational only very recently, a large body of high quality and high…
The maximum cosmic ray energy achievable by acceleration by a relativistic blast wave is derived. It is shown that forward shocks from long GRB in the interstellar medium are powerful enough to produce the Galactic cosmic-ray component up…
The properties of galactic cosmic rays are investigated with the KASCADE-Grande experiment in the energy range between $10^{14}$ and $10^{18}$ eV. Recent results are discussed. They concern mainly the all-particle energy spectrum and the…
This is a review of neutrino astronomy anchored to 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…
We study the large-scale distribution of the arrival directions of the highest energy cosmic rays observed by various experiments. Despite clearly insufficient statistics, we find a deficit of cosmic rays at energies higher than 10^{20} eV…
We perform a fit to measurements of the cosmic ray spectrum and of the depth of shower maximum in the energy range between $10^{15}$~eV and $10^{18}$~eV. We consider a Galactic component that is a mixture of five representative nuclear…
The highest energy cosmic rays observed possess macroscopic energies and their origin is likely to be associated with the most energetic processes in the Universe. Their existence triggered a flurry of theoretical explanations ranging from…