Related papers: Cosmic Ray Physics
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,…
The origin of Galactic cosmic rays (with energies up to 10^15 eV) remains unclear, though it is widely believed that they originate in the shock waves of expanding supernova remnants. Currently the best way to investigate their acceleration…
Cosmic rays represent one of the most important energy transformation processes of the universe. They bring information about the surrounding universe, our galaxy, and very probably also the extragalactic space, at least at the highest…
The ISVHECRI conference series emphasizes the connection between high energy physics and cosmic ray physics--the study of elementary particles and nuclei from accelerators in the lab and from space. In this introductory paper on cosmic…
We consider a cosmic ray spectrum that is a power law in momentum down to a cutoff and derive a lower cutoff corresponding to $E_{kin} \sim (30-60)$ MeV from the observed ionization rates in nearby diffuse clouds. While the real spectra of…
Our knowledge of the mass composition of cosmic rays is deficient at all energies above 10^17. Here systematic differences between different measurements are discussed and, in particular, it is argued that there is no compelling evidence to…
The production of energetic particles in the universe remains one of the great mysteries of modern science. The mechanisms of acceleration in astrophysical sources and the details about the propagation through the galactic and extragalactic…
The existence of cosmic rays of energies exceeding 10^20 eV is one of the mysteries of high energy astrophysics. The spectrum and the high energy to which it extends rule out almost all suggested source models. The challenges posed by…
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…
This is a written version of a series of lectures aimed at graduate students in astrophysics/particle theory/particle experiment. In the first part, we explain the important progress made in recent years towards understanding the…
The general features of the cosmic-ray spectrum have been known for a long time. Although the basic approaches to understanding cosmic-ray propagation and acceleration have also been well understood for many years, there are several…
While there is some level of consensus on a Galactic origin of cosmic rays up to the knee ($E_{k}\sim 3\times 10^{15}$ eV) and on an extragalactic origin of cosmic rays with energy above $\sim 10^{19}$ eV, the debate on the genesis of…
It is shown that our knowledge of the mass composition of cosmic rays is deficient at all energies above 10^17 eV. Systematic differences between different measurements are discussed and, in particular, it is argued that there is no…
Cosmic rays are relativistic particles that come to the Earth from outer space. Despite a great effort made in both experimental and theoretical research, their origin is still unknown. One of the main keys to understand their nature is the…
The origin of cosmic rays with energies higher than 10$^{20}$ eV remains a mystery. Accelerating particles up to these energies is a challenge even for the most energetic astrophysical objects known. While the isotropy in arrival directions…
The origin of cosmic rays is one of the major unresolved astrophysical questions. In particular, the highest energy cosmic rays observed possess macroscopic energies and their origin is likely to be associated with the most energetic…
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…
Despite their discovery potential touching a wide range of science, construction of TeV gamma-ray telescopes, Auger, IceCube and a suite of other particle astrophysics experiments has been largely motivated by the hunt for the sources of…
Cosmic rays are charged energetic particles that permeate the interstellar medium. Their sizeable energy share and penetration power makes them essential players in the dynamical and chemical processes that rule Galactic evolution, such as…
This review focuses on high-energy cosmic rays in the PeV energy range and above. Of particular interest is the knee of the spectrum around 3 PeV and the transition from cosmic rays of Galactic origin to particles from extra-galactic…