Related papers: Cosmic rays and tests of fundamental principles
The claim by Gurzadyan et al. that the cosmological sky is a weakly random one where "the random perturbation is a minor component of mostly regular signal" has given rise to a series of useful exchanges. The possibility that the Cosmic…
Cosmic rays are the most outstanding example of accelerated particles. They are about 1\% of the total mass of the Universe, so that cosmic rays would represent by far the most important energy transformation process of the Universe.…
A comparison of the standard models in particle physics and in cosmology demonstrates that they are not compatible, though both are well established. Basics of modern cosmology are briefly reviewed. It is argued that the measurements of the…
The exploration of cosmic rays, which are high-energy particles originate from space and the atmosphere, has historically been associated with particle physics and astrophysics. In the last 20 years, these particles have evolved into…
Accelerated particles are ubiquitous in the Cosmos and play a fundamental role in many processes governing the evolution of the Universe at all scales, from the sub-AU ones relevant for the formation and evolution of stars and planets to…
Observations of cosmic rays have been improving at all energies, with higher statistics and reduced systematics. Fundamental questions remain regarding the origins of cosmic rays both within the Galaxy and in extragalactic sources, and new…
Cosmic rays represent one of the most fascinating research themes in modern astronomy and physics. After almost a century since their discovery, a huge amount of scientific literature has been written on this topic and it is not always easy…
Today, both particle physics and cosmology are described by few parameter Standard Models, i.e. it is possible to deduce consequence of particle physics in cosmology and vice verse. The former is examined in this lecture, in light of the…
The origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays remains a mystery. The lack of a high energy cutoff in the cosmic ray spectrum together with an apparently isotropic distribution of arrival directions have strongly constrained most models…
The status of some popular models to simulate hadronic and nuclear interactions at Cosmic Ray energies is reviewed. The models predict the rise of all the hadronic and nuclear cross sections with energy and a smooth (logarithmic) rise of…
A fundamental question that can be answered in the next decade is: WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE HIGHEST ENERGY COSMIC PARTICLES? The discovery of the sources of the highest energy cosmic rays will reveal the workings of the most energetic…
We briefly review sources of cosmic rays, their composition and spectra as well as their propagation in the galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields, both regular and fluctuating. A special attention is paid to the recent results of the…
Cosmic rays are charged relativistic particles that reach the Earth with extremely high energies, providing striking evidence of the existence of effective accelerators in the Universe. Below an energy around $\sim 10^{17}$ eV cosmic rays…
The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the workings of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. Current observations show a spectrum consistent with an…
High-energy cosmic ray events present important challenges to particle astrophysics. Their nature and origin are often not well understood and, as they occur in an energy domain not accessible to particle accelerators, there is no clear…
Energetic particles, traditionally called Cosmic Rays, were discovered nearly a hundred years ago, and their origin is still uncertain. Their main constituents are the normal nuclei as in the standard cosmic abundances of matter, with some…
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…
A critical review of the standard paradigm for the origin of Galactic cosmic rays is presented. Recent measurements of local and far-away cosmic rays reveal unexpected behaviours, which challenge the commonly accepted scenario. These recent…
High-energy cosmic neutrinos can reveal new fundamental particles and interactions, probing energy and distance scales far exceeding those accessible in the laboratory. This white paper describes the outstanding particle physics questions…
Our Galaxy is the largest nuclear interaction experiment which we know, because of the interaction between cosmic ray particles and the interstellar material. Cosmic rays are particles, which have been accelerated in the Galaxy or in…