Related papers: Hadron-gamma discrimination from an orbital UHECR …
We discuss the possibility of observing ultra high energy cosmic ray sources inhigh energy gamma rays. Protons propagating away from their accelerators produce secondary electrons during interactions with cosmic microwave background…
The nature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) at energies >10^20 eV remains a mystery. They are likely to be of extragalactic origin, but should be absorbed within ~50 Mpc through interactions with the cosmic microwave background. As…
IceTop, the km$^2$ surface array of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole, is sensitive to air showers of all primary particles, including gamma rays. In particular, in the PeV energy range, the combination of IceTop and…
The photomeson production in ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) accelerators such as gamma-ray bursts and active galaxies may lead to ultra-high-energy (UHE) gamma-ray emission. We show that generation of UHE pairs in magnetized…
Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays, UHECR, are charged particles with energies between $\sim10^{18}\,{\rm eV}$ and $\sim3\times10^{20}\,{\rm eV}\sim50\,{\rm J}$. They exhibit fundamental physics at energies inaccessible to terrestrial…
The JEM-EUSO mission aims to explore the origin of the extreme energy cosmic rays (EECRs) through the observation of air-shower fluorescence light from space. The superwide-field telescope looks down from the International Space Station…
Air-fluorescence detectors such as the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) detector are very sensitive to upward-going, Earth-skimming ultrahigh energy electron-neutrino-induced showers. This is due to the relatively large interaction cross…
The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest detector of ultra--high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). It uses an array of fluorescence telescopes and particle detectors at the ground to obtain detailed measurements of the energy…
The determination of the primary energy and mass of ultra-high-energy cosmic-rays (UHECR) generating extensive air-showers in the Earth's atmosphere, relies on the detailed modeling of hadronic multiparticle production at center-of-mass…
The sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are still one of the main open questions in high-energy astrophysics. If UHECRs are accelerated in astrophysical sources, they are expected to produce high-energy photons and neutrinos…
Significant progress has been made over the past decades towards unveiling the sources of the most energetic particles in nature, the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). Despite these advancements, the exact astrophysical sites capable…
In this article I review the main theoretical problems that are posed by the highest energy end of the observed cosmic ray spectrum, stressing the importance of establishing their composition in order to decide between proposed scenarios. I…
The paper describes methods used for the detection of cosmic rays with energies above 10^18 eV (UHECR, UltraHigh Energy Cosmic Rays). It had been anticipated there would be a cutoff in the energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays around 3…
The interaction of high energy electrons, positrons, and photons with intense laser pulses is studied in head-on collision geometry. It is shown that electrons and/or positrons undergo a cascade-type process involving multiple emissions of…
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays interacting with the radiation fields in the universe cause electromagnetic cascades resulting in a flux of extragalactic gamma rays, detectable to some 100 GeV. Recent precise measurements of the extragalactic…
In this lecture I give an overview of shock acceleration, interactions of high energy cosmic rays with, and propagation through, the background radiation, and the resulting electron-photon cascade. I argue that while the origin of the…
Studies of the nature of cosmic ray particles at the highest energies are based on the measurement of extensive air showers. Most cosmic ray properties can therefore only be obtained from the interpretation of air shower data and are thus…
The energy losses and spectra of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) are calculated for protons as primary particles. The attention is given to the energy losses due to electron-positron production in collisions with the microwave 2.73 K…
Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) arrive at Earth from the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. They collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere with energies about ten times higher than any man-made accelerator,…
We study the dependence of extensive air shower development on the first hadronic interactions at ultra-high energies occurring in the startup phase of the air shower cascade. The interpretation of standard air shower observables depends on…