Related papers: Cosmic Rays from the Ankle to the Cut-Off
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 existence of the spectral break around $\sim 3 \times 10^{15}$ eV in the cosmic ray spectrum (referred to as the `knee') is one of the biggest questions in cosmic ray astrophysics. At the same time, the origin of cosmic rays above the…
Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are atomic nuclei from space with vastly higher energies than any other particles ever observed. Their origin and chemical composition remain a mystery. As we show here, the large- and…
The most recent experimental results on the cosmic ray composition and energy spectrum above 1 TeV are reviewed and discussed. All data agree on the presence of the so-called ``knee'' at an energy E(knee) = 3-4 PeV; the knee is seen in all…
Some recent measurements of the chemical composition of the cosmic radiation indicate that at the energy of 3 x 10 **18 eV, around the ankle, light cosmic ions dominate the spectrum as it occurs in the preknee energy region. Taking…
This is a summary of a series of lectures on the current experimental and theoretical status of our understanding of origin and nature of cosmic radiation. Specific focus is put on ultra-high energy cosmic radiation above ~10^17 eV,…
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…
The origin of Ultra--High Energy ($E \gsim 10^{20}$ eV) Cosmic Rays (UHECR) remains mysterious. I discuss ``top--down'' models, where UHECR originate from the decay of very massive, long--lived particles. I summarize the calculation of the…
Investigations of the origin of cosmic rays are presented. Different methods are discussed: studies of cosmic gamma rays of energy from 30 MeV to about 10^15 eV (since photons point to their places of origin), studies of the mass…
We briefly review the status of cosmic ray studies between $10^{14}$ eV and the highest observed energies, namely a few times $10^{20}$ eV. Because of the rather low incident fluxes in this energy range, the studies mostly rely on ground…
Cosmic rays are atomic nuclei arriving from outer space that reach the highest energies observed in nature. Clues to their origin come from studying the distribution of their arrival directions. Using $3 \times 10^4$ cosmic rays above $8…
The measurement of the anisotropy in the arrival direction of cosmic rays is complementary to the study of their energy spectrum and chemical composition to understand their origin and propagation. It is also a tool to probe the structure…
Understanding the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays (CRs) is essential to make sense of the Local cosmic ray spectrum. Several models have been proposed to account for this transition in the 0.1 - 10 $\times 10^{18}$ eV…
We discuss the possibility that a dominant fraction of the cosmic rays above the ankle is due to a single nearby source, considering in particular the radio galaxy Centaurus A. We focus on the properties of the source spectrum and…
Understanding the acceleration of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays is one of the great challenges of contemporary astrophysics. In this short review, we summarize the general observational constraints on their composition, spectrum and…
In this paper we review the main features of the observed Cosmic Rays spectrum in the energy range $10^{17} {\rm eV}~\div~10^{20} {\rm eV}$. We present a theoretical model that explains the main observed features of the spectrum, namely the…
We examine the question of the origin of the Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs) in the light of the data available at the highest energy end of the spectrum. We argue that the data of the Pierre Auger Observatory and of the KASCADE-Grande…
The origin and nature of the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are still unknown. However, great progress has been achieved in past years due to the observations performed by the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array. Above…
The energy spectrum of cosmic rays between 10**16 eV and 10**18 eV, derived from measurements of the shower size (total number of charged particles) and the total muon number of extensive air showers by the KASCADE-Grande experiment, is…
The study of the transition between galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays can shed more light on the end of the Galactic cosmic rays spectrum and the beginning of the extragalactic one. Three models of transition are discussed: ankle, dip…