Related papers: Closing in on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays u…
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…
If supernova remnants (SNRs) are the sites of cosmic-ray acceleration, the associated nuclear interactions should result in observable fluxes of TeV gamma-rays from the nearest SNRs. Measurements of the gamma-ray flux from six nearby,…
The gamma-ray observations of molecular clouds associated with supernova remnants are considered one of the most promising ways to search for a solution of the problem of cosmic ray origin. Here we briefly review the status of the field,…
The article gives a brief overview, aimed at nonspecialists, about the goals and selected recent results of the detection of very-high energy gamma-rays (energies above 100 GeV) with ground based detectors. The stress is on the physics…
This paper presents an introduction to the astrophysics of cosmic rays and diffuse gamma rays and discusses some of the puzzles that have emerged recently due to more precise data and improved propagation models: the excesses in Galactic…
Energetic particles, traditionally called Cosmic Rays, were discovered nearly a hundred years ago, and their origin is still uncertain. Their main constituents are the normal nuclei as in the standard cosmic abundances of matter, with some…
Cosmic-rays with energies exceeding 10^{19} eV are referred to as Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs). The sources of these particles and their acceleration mechanism are unknown, and for many years have been the issue of much debate.…
Identifying the accelerators that produce the Galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays has been a priority mission of several generations of high energy gamma ray and neutrino telescopes; success has been elusive so far. Detecting the…
The origin of the cosmic rays has been a great mystery since they were discovered by Victor Hess in 1912. AGASA's observation of ultra-high-energy cosmic-rays (UHECR) possibly beyond the GZK (Greisen, Zatsepin and Kuzmin) cutoff stimulated…
Line-of-sight interactions of cosmic rays provide a natural explanation of the hard gamma-ray spectra of distant blazars, which are believed to be capable of producing both gamma rays and cosmic rays. For sources with redshifts z> 0.1,…
We discuss processes in galactic cosmic ray (GCR) acceleration sites - supernova remnants, compact associations of young massive stars, and superbubbles. Mechanisms of efficient conversion of the mechanical power of the outflows driven by…
The origin of high-energy cosmic rays, atomic nuclei that continuously impact Earth's atmosphere, has been a mystery for over a century. Due to deflection in interstellar magnetic fields, cosmic rays from the Milky Way arrive at Earth from…
Multi-messenger high-energy astrophysics has currently achieved the potential to unravel the origin of cosmic rays and how sources accelerate them, their relation to the diffuse radiation in the extra-galactic space, and their role to forge…
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…
The undisputed galactic origin of cosmic rays at energies below the so-called knee implies an existence of a nonthemal population of galactic objects which effectively accelerate protons and nuclei to TeV-PeV energies. The distinct…
The cosmic gamma-ray background radiation is one of the most fundamental observables in the gamma-ray band. Although the origin of the cosmic gamma-ray background radiation has been a mystery for a long time, the Fermi gamma-ray space…
The electron and positron cosmic rays observations have impulsed a hot debate regarding the origin of such particles. Their propagation in the galactic medium is modeled according to a successfully tested two--zone propagation model. The…
Observations of diffuse gamma rays above hundreds of TeV from the Galactic disk provide strong evidence for the existence of PeV cosmic-ray accelerators--so-called PeVatrons--in the Galaxy. However, mounting observations have ruled out most…
The existence of cosmic ray particles up to the ultra-high energy limit (> 10^20 eV) is now beyond any doubt. The detection of cosmic particles with such energies imposes a challenge for the comprehension of their sources and nature. On one…
We propose that cosmic rays originate mainly in three sites, a) normal supernova explosions into the interstellar medium, b) supernova explosions into stellar winds, and c) hot spots of powerful radio galaxies. The proposal depends on an…