Related papers: Particle Acceleration in Astrophysical Sources
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and their relativistic jets belong to the most promising class of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) accelerators. This compact review summarises basic experimental findings by recent instruments, and…
Cosmic rays accelerated to ultra-high energies (E>4x10^19 eV) in electric fields in accretion discs around supermassive black holes are discussed. Particle injection spectra are assumed to be harder than those formed in acceleration on…
The origin of cosmic rays above the knee in the spectrum is an unsolved problem. We present a wind model in which interstellar gas flows along a non-rotating, expanding flux tube with a changing speed and cross-sectional area. Cosmic rays…
The most energetic particles ever detected exceed $10^{20}$ eV in energy. Their existence represents at the same time a great challenge for particle physics and astrophysics, and a great promise of providing us for a probe of the validity…
One of the main purposes in $\gamma$-ray astronomy is linked to the origin of Galactic cosmic rays. Unlike cosmic rays, $\gamma$ rays can be used to probe their production sites in the Galaxy and to find which type of astrophysical sources…
The origin of cosmic rays from outside the Solar system are unknown, as they are deflected by the interstellar magnetic field. Supernova remnants are the main candidate for cosmic rays up to PeV energies but due to lack of evidence, they…
Particle acceleration by electrostatic polarization fields that arise in plasmas streaming across magnetic fields is discussed as a possible acceleration mechanism of highest-energy cosmic rays. Specifically, plasmoids arising in planetoid…
The high-energy universe has revealed that energetic particles are ubiquitous in the cosmos and play a vital role in the cultivation of cosmic environments on all scales. Though they play a key role in cultivating the cosmological…
The bulk of observed ultrahigh energy cosmic rays could be light or heavier elements, and originate from an either steady or transient population of sources. This leaves us with four general categories of sources. Energetic requirements set…
One century ago Viktor Hess carried out several balloon flights that led him to conclude that the penetrating radiation responsible for the discharge of electroscopes was of extraterrestrial origin. One century from the discovery of this…
Gamma-ray bursts are known to be sources of high-energy gamma rays, and are likely to be sources of high-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos. Following a short review of observations of GRBs at multi-MeV energies and above, the physics of…
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…
It is widely believe that galactic cosmic rays are originated in supernova remnants (SNRs) where they are accelerated by diffusive shock acceleration process at supernova blast waves driven by expanding SNRs. In recent theoretical…
A mechanism of ultra-high energy cosmic ray acceleration in extragalactic radio sources, at the interface between the relativistic jet and the surrounding medium, is discussed as a supplement to the shock acceleration in `hot spots'. Due to…
The origin of Galactic cosmic rays remains a matter of debate, but supernova remnants are commonly considered to be the main place where high-energy cosmic rays are accelerated. Nevertheless, current models predict cosmic-ray spectra that…
In this work, I present a qualitative discussion on the prospect of production of ultra-high photons in blazars. The sources are a subclass of active galactic nuclei which host supermassive black holes and fire relativistic jets into the…
We derive constraints that must be satisfied by the sources of ~10^{15} to ~10^{18} eV cosmic rays, under the assumption that the sources are Galactic. We show that while these constraints are not satisfied by ordinary supernovae (SNe),…
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'.…
Supernova remnants (SNRs) have been considered as the primary contributors to cosmic rays (CRs) in our Galaxy. However, the maximum energy of particles that can be accelerated by shocks of SNRs is uncertain, and SNRs' contribution to CRs…
Theoretical aspects of potential astrophysical sources of the highest energy cosmic rays are discussed, including their energy budget and some issues on particle escape and propagation. After briefly addressing AGN jets and GRBs, we…