Related papers: Cosmic Rays at the highest energies
Contrary to expectations, several cosmic ray events with energies above $10^{20}$ eV have been observed. The flux of such events is well above the predicted Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff due to the pion production (via the $\Delta$…
The origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs, $E>10^{18}$ eV) is still uncertain. However, great progress has been achieved due to the data taken by The Pierre Auger and Telescope Array observatories. The UHECR flux presents two…
The origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is an open question. In this proceeding, we first review the general physical requirements that a source must meet for acceleration to 10-100 EeV, including the consideration that the…
The current status of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray (UHE CR) enigma and several proposed solutions involving particle physics beyond the standard model are discussed. Emphasis is given to top--down models, and as a main example,…
We review in these notes the status of the construction of the Pierre Auger Observatory and present the first Physics results, based on the data collected during the first year and a half of operation. These results are preliminary, once…
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…
The surprising lack of a high energy cutoff in the cosmic ray spectrum at the highest energies together with an apparently isotropic distribution of arrival directions have strongly challenged most models proposed for the acceleration of…
We argue that the data published by the Pierre Auger Collaboration (arXiv:0711.2256) disfavor at 99% confidence level their hypothesis that most of the highest-energy cosmic rays are protons from nearby astrophysical sources, either Active…
Active galaxies and gamma ray bursts are the sources of the highest energy photons detected by astronomical telescopes. We speculate that they may be the sources of the highest energy cosmic rays. This makes them true proton accelerators,…
The joint analysis of anisotropy signals and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays offers strong potential for shedding light on the sources of these particles. Following up on an earlier idea, this paper studies the…
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…
We present the main results on the energy spectrum and composition of the highest energy cosmic rays of energy exceeding 10$^{18}$ eV obtained by the High Resolution Fly's Eye and the Southern Auger Observatory. The current results are…
Charged cosmic rays have been measured up to macroscopic energies. Concerning neutrinos, the detection is still limited to terrestrial ones (apart from supernova production). A new way to search for extragalactic neutrinos is discussed.
The possibility that the Fermi scale is the only fundamental energy scale of Nature is under serious consideration at present, yet cosmic rays may already have provided direct evidence of new physics at a much higher scale. The recent…
Recently, the IceCube collaboration made a big announcement of the first discovery of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. Their origin is a new interesting mystery in astroparticle physics. The present multimessenger data may give us hints of…
Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are the most energetic of any subatomic particles ever observed in nature. The quest for their mysterious origin is currently a major scientific challenge. Here we explore the possibility that these particles…
The images of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray sources get distorted, in an energy dependent way, by the effects of Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields. These deflections can also affect the observed cosmic ray spectrum, specially when…
We review some of the recent progress in our knowledge about high-energy cosmic rays, with an emphasis on the interpretation of the different observational results. We discuss the effects that are relevant to shape the cosmic ray spectrum…
Recent accurate measurements of cosmic-ray (CR) protons and nuclei by ATIC-2, CREAM, and PAMELA reveal: a) unexpected spectral hardening in the spectra of CR species above a few hundred GeV per nucleon, b) a harder spectrum of He compared…
Cosmic rays (CRs) are protons and atomic nuclei that flow into our Solar system and reach the Earth with energies of up to ~10^21 eV. The sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with E >~ 10^19 eV remain unknown, although there…