Related papers: An anti-knee
In the cosmic ray spectrum, there are two knees (abrupt changes of slopes) located around the energies $E_{th}=10^{15.5}$ eV and $10^{17.8}$ eV respectively. Based on the pioneering work by Kostelecky and Ehrlich, we ascribe the first knee…
An update of the status of the knee in the cosmic ray energy spectrum at 3-4 PeV is presented. We argue that the evidence in favour of the presence of a 'single source' is even stronger than before.
The differential energy spectrum of cosmic rays exhibits a change of slope, called "knee" of the spectrum, around the nominal energy of 3 x 10^15 eV, and individual "knees" for single ions, at different energies. The present work reports a…
The author has suggested that the knee phenomenon in the cosmic ray energy spectrum at 3 PeV can be explained as a split between a radiation-dominated expansion and a matter-dominated expansion of an expanding heat bath. The model proposed…
We propose that the knee in the cosmic ray spectrum at energies E ~ 10^{15.5} eV is due to "new physics", namely to a channel in the high energy (~ TeV in the CM) proton interactions hitherto unaccounted for in estimating the energies of…
All astrophysical explanations of the knee in cosmic ray spectrum accept the hypothesis of its existence {\it a priori} without any doubt. But, there exist experimental evidences against this hypothesis. Experimental data on the knee in…
The main purpose of this work is to find the causes of the break of the cosmic ray spectrum at an energy of 3 PeV, which is called the knee. The solution of the problem is associated with the determination of the nuclear composition of…
Cosmic rays around the so-called knee in the spectrum at around PeV primary energy are generally galactic in origin. Observations on the form of their energy spectrum and their mass composition are fundamental tools to understand the…
After a brief review of galactic cosmic rays in the GeV to TeV energy range, we describe some current problems of interest for particles of very high energy. Particularly interesting are two features of the spectrum, the `knee' above…
Primary energy spectrum of cosmic rays exhibits a knee at about $3$ PeV where a change in the spectral index occurs. Despite many efforts the origin of such a feature of the spectrum is not satisfactorily solved yet. Here it is proposed…
A brief review is given on the astrophysics of cosmic rays in the PeV primary energy range, i.e. the region of the knee.
The KASCADE experiment measures extensive air showers induced by cosmic rays in the energy range around the so-called knee. The data of KASCADE have been used in a composition analysis showing the knee at 3-5 PeV to be caused by a…
A brief motivation for studying cosmic rays at energies 10^14 < E < 10^17 eV is given. Besides astrophysical interests in identifying and understanding their sources, there are also particle physics aspects related to their transport…
Several kinds of measurements are combined in an attempt to obtain a consistent estimate of the spectrum and composition of the primary cosmic radiation through the knee region. Assuming that the knee is a signal of the high-energy end of a…
The origin of the prominent 'knee' in the cosmic ray energy spectrum at an energy of several PeV is still uncertain. A recent mechanism has shown promise, however; this involves particles from a very young pulsar interacting with the…
I develop a theory to account for the cosmic ray spectrum. The essential assumption is that, due to fast convective motions, the free mean path perpendicular to the magnetic field is independent of energy and has the scale of the thickness…
The origin of the knee in cosmic ray spectrum remains to be an unsolved fundamental problem. There are various kinds of models which predict different break positions and the compositions of the knee. In this work, we suggest to use diffuse…
This review summarizes recent developments in the understanding of high-energy cosmic rays. It focuses on galactic and presumably extragalactic particles in the energy range from the knee (10^15 eV) up to the highest energies observed…
Recent results of the KASCADE-Grande experiment provided evidence for a mild knee-like structure in the all-particle spectrum of cosmic rays at $E = 10^{16.92 \pm 0.10} \, \mathrm{eV}$, which was found to be due to a steepening in the flux…
Primary energy spectral models are tested in the energy range of 1-200 PeV using standardized extensive air shower responses from BASJE-MAS, Tibet, GAMMA and KASCADE scintillation shower arrays. Results point towards the two-component…