Related papers: Cosmic rays and changes in atmospheric infra-red t…
I give a brief overview of cosmic ray physics, highlighting some key questions and how they will be addressed by new experiments.
The present situation with regard to experimental data on ultra high-energy cosmic rays is briefly reviewed. Whilst detailed knowledge of the shape of the energy spectrum is still lacking, it is clear that events above 10^20 eV do exist.…
AMS instrument aboard the International Space Station is a high precision instrument capable of collecting large statistics on cosmic ray intensities and as such has started making highly significant contributions to Astroparticle Physics.…
We consider the propagation of galactic cosmic rays under assumption that the interstellar medium is a fractal one. An anomalous diffusion equation in terms of fractional derivatives is used to describe of cosmic ray propagation. The…
Synchrotron radiation from cosmic rays is a key observational probe of the galactic magnetic field. Interpreting synchrotron emission data requires knowledge of the cosmic ray number density, which is often assumed to be in energy…
Cosmic rays generated by supernovae carry away a significant portion of the lifetime energy emission of their parent star, making them a plausible mechanism for heating the early universe intergalactic medium (IGM). Following a review of…
The problem of the contribution of cosmic rays to climate change is a continuing one and one of importance. In principle, at least, the recent results from the CLOUD project at CERN provide information about the role of ionizing particles…
Low energy galactic cosmic rays as well as particles accelerated to high energies either at the solar surface or in the interplanetary medium have access to the atmosphere above a given position on the Earth depending upon the state of the…
This paper reviews recent progress in the field of direct measurements of Galactic cosmic rays. High-statistic measurements of cosmic ray energy spectra, chemical and isotopic composition, and the rare antimatter components have been made…
Recent results from the Pierre Auger Observatory are presented, focusing on a measurement of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum above 10^18 eV, cosmic-ray composition, and the anisotropy in the cosmic ray arrival directions. The flux of cosmic…
The nuclei fraction in cosmic rays (CR) far exceeds the fraction of other CR species, such as antiprotons, electrons, and positrons. Thus the majority of information obtained from CR studies is based on interpretation of isotopic abundances…
An overview is given on the present status of the understanding of the origin of galactic cosmic rays. Recent measurements of charged cosmic rays and photons are reviewed. Their impact on the contemporary knowledge about the sources and…
Molecular clouds interacting with supernova remnants may be subject to a greatly enhanced irradiation by cosmic rays produced at the shocked interface between the ejecta and the molecular gas. Over the past decade, broad-band observations…
Firm evidence for a radio emission counterpart of cosmic ray air showers is presented. By the use of an antenna array set up in coincidence with ground particle detectors, we find a collection of events for which both time and arrival…
It is argued that there are three `origins' of cosmic rays; the origin of the particles, the origin of the energy, and the site of the acceleration. The evidence for each origin is discussed and a plausible synthesis outlined for the…
Cosmic rays are an important source of heating in the interstellar medium, in particular in dense molecular cloud cores shielded from the external ultraviolet radiation field. The limits placed on the cosmic-ray ionization rate from…
Recent international efforts have brought us closer to unveiling the century old mystery of the origin of cosmic rays. Cosmic ray, gamma ray, and neutrino observatories are reaching the necessary sensitivity to study the highest energy…
A brief review of the energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays above $10^{10}$ eV and the measurement techniques used to investigate the ultra high energy ones is given. This is followed by a discussion of the atmospheric shower profile of…
The ionizing spectral energy distribution of quasars is known to exhibit a steepening of the distribution short-ward of 1050\AA. It has been assumed that this change of power-law index from -1 to -2 is intrinsic to the quasars. We study an…
The ionization rate of interstellar material by cosmic rays has been a major source of controversy, with different estimates varying by three orders of magnitude. Observational constraints of this rate have all depended on analyzing the…