Related papers: Cosmic ray-driven bioenergetics for Life in Molecu…
Cosmic-rays are the primary initiators of interstellar chemistry, and getting a better understanding of the varying impact they have on the chemistry of interstellar clouds throughout the Milky Way will not only expand our understanding of…
The role of cosmic rays generated by supernovae and young stars has very recently begun to receive significant attention in studies of galaxy formation and evolution due to the realization that cosmic rays can efficiently accelerate…
It is proposed that the highest energy $\sim 10^{20}$eV cosmic ray primaries are protons, decay products of a long-lived progenitor which has propagated from typically $\sim 100$Mpc. Such a scenario can occur in e.g. SU(15) grand…
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…
Because cosmic rays are charged particles scrambled by magnetic fields, combining direct measurements with other observations is crucial to understanding their origin and propagation. As energetic particles traverse matter and…
Evidence for the existence of low energy cosmic rays in the Galaxy comes from the COMPTEL observations of gamma ray line emission from Orion, and also from light element abundance data which seem to suggest a low energy rather than a…
A recently proposed mechanism of acceleration of highest energy cosmic rays by polarization electric fields arising in plasmoids injected into neutron star magnetospheres is discussed.
The search for a theory of the origin of cosmic rays that may be considered as a standard, agreeable model is still ongoing. On one hand, much circumstantial evidence exists of the fact that supernovae in our Galaxy play a crucial role in…
Reionization is a process whereby hydrogen (and helium) in the Universe is ionized by the radiation from first luminous sources. Theoretically, the importance of the reionization lies in its close coupling with the formation of first cosmic…
It was recently discovered that in some regions of the Galaxy, the cosmic ray (CR) abundance is several orders of magnitude higher than previously thought. Additionally, there is evidence that in molecular cloud envelopes, the CR ionization…
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…
Galactic winds are the primary mechanism by which energy and metals are recycled in galaxies and are deposited into the intergalactic medium. New observations are revealing the ubiquity of this process, particularly at high redshift. We…
In recent years, exciting developments have taken place in the identification of the role of cosmic rays in star-forming environments. Observations from radio to infrared wavelengths and theoretical modelling have shown that low-energy…
Observations of $\gamma$-rays from diffuse gas provide the opportunity to study the distribution of high energy particles in different astrophysical environments. In the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and the intracluster medium (ICM), it is…
Galactic Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are copious sources of gamma-rays that can pose a threat to complex life. Using recent determinations of their rate and the probability of GRBs causing massive extinction, we explore what type of universes…
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 results, the present status and the perspectives of high energy gamma-ray astronomy are described. Since the satellite observations by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and its precursor missions have been reviewed extensively,…
The origin of life on Earth would benefit from a prebiotic atmosphere that produced nitriles, like HCN, which enable ribonucleotide synthesis. However, geochemical evidence suggests that Hadean air was relatively oxidizing with negligible…
If ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) have extragalactic origins, as is widely assumed to be the case at least for the majority of cosmic rays with energies above a few EeV, secondary neutrinos and photons can be expected to be produced…
We investigate the role of cosmic rays from young galaxies in heating and ionizing the intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshift. Using the IRAS observations at $60 \mu m$, we estimate the cosmic ray luminosity density at the present…