Related papers: Cosmic Ray Acceleration in Magnetic Reconnection S…
Diffusive shock acceleration is the prime candidate for efficient acceleration of cosmic rays. Galactic cosmic rays are believed to originate predominantly from this process in supernova remnant shock waves. Confinement of the cosmic rays…
Binary systems can be powerful sources of non-thermal emission from radio to gamma rays. When the latter are detected, then these objects are known as gamma-ray binaries. In this work, we explore, in the context of gamma-ray binaries,…
The ultra-high energy cosmic rays observed at the Earth are most likely accelerated in extra-galactic sources. For the typical luminosities invoked for such sources, the electric current associated to the flux of cosmic rays that leave them…
A mechanism of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray acceleration in extragalactic radio sources at the interface between the relativistic jet and the ambient medium is discussed as a supplement to the shock acceleration in `hot spots'.…
Accretion flows onto supergalactic-scale structures are accompanied with large spatial scale shock waves. These shocks were postulated as possible sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The highest particle energies were expected for…
Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) constitute a significant part of the energy budget of our Galaxy, and the study of their accelerators is of high importance in modern astrophysics. Their main sources are likely supernova remnants (SNRs). These…
For over twenty years the possibility that the electromagnetic zero point field (ZPF) may actively accelerate electromagnetically interacting particles in regions of extremely low particle density (as those extant in intergalactic space…
The spatial distribution of cosmic ray (CR) particles in the interstellar medium (ISM) is of major importance in radio astronomy, where its knowledge is essential for the interpretation of observations, and in theoretical astrophysics,…
In this chapter I give an overview of shock acceleration, including a discussion of the maximum energies possible and the shape of the spectrum near cut-off, interactions of high energy cosmic rays with, and propagation through, the…
Historically cosmic rays have always been at the intersection of astrophysics with particle physics. This is still and especially true in current days where experimenters routinely observe atmospheric showers from particles whose energies…
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…
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…
The discovery of rapid synchrotron gamma-ray flares above 100 MeV from the Crab Nebula has attracted new interest in alternative particle acceleration mechanisms in pulsar wind nebulae. Diffuse shock-acceleration fails to explain the flares…
We analyse the results of recent measurements of nonthermal emission from individual supernova remnants (SNRs) and their correspondence to the nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration in SNRs. It is shown that the theory…
The gamma-ray space telescopes AGILE and Fermi detected short and bright synchrotron gamma-ray flares at photon energies above 100 MeV in the Crab Nebula. This discovery suggests that electron-positron pairs in the nebula are accelerated to…
Cosmic rays (CRs) are the probes of the deep space. They allow us to study particle acceleration, chemical composition of the interstellar medium, and global properties of our Galaxy. However, until recently studies of CRs were similar to…
Particle acceleration induced by fast magnetic reconnection may help to solve current puzzles related to the interpretation of the very high energy (VHE) and neutrino missions from AGNs and compact sources in general. Our general…
Galactic cosmic rays are commonly believed to be accelerated at supernova remnants via diffusive shock acceleration. Despite the popularity of this idea, a conclusive proof for its validity is still missing. Gamma-ray astronomy provides us…
Context: Diffuse $\gamma$-ray emission from cosmic ray (CR) protons scattering off the gas in the intracluster and intergalactic medium (ICM and IGM) remains out of reach for current observations. Detecting this emission would provide…
We investigate favourable circumstances for fast magnetic reconnection in astrophysical plasmas based on recent results by Rogers et al. (2001). Given that a critical magnetic field structure with antiparallel field lines exists, our…