Related papers: Observational Validation of Cosmic Ray Acceleratio…
Initial discovery of CRs dates back to a century ago (1912). Their identification as particles rather than radiation dates to about 20 years later and in 20 more years also the first suggestion that they were associated with SNRs was in…
The origin of cosmic rays (CRs) has puzzled scientists since the pioneering discovery by Victor Hess in 1912. In the last decade, however, modern supercomputers have opened a new window on the processes regulating astrophysical…
Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) are accelerated by astrophysical shocks, primarily supernova remnants (SNRs), via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA), an efficient mechanism that predicts power-law energy distributions of CRs. However,…
The origin of the bulk of cosmic rays (CRs) observed at Earth is the topic of a century long investigation, paved with successes and failures. From the energetic point of view, supernova remnants (SNRs) remain the most plausible sources of…
Cosmic rays are the most outstanding example of accelerated particles. They are about 1\% of the total mass of the Universe, so that cosmic rays would represent by far the most important energy transformation process of the Universe.…
Cosmic-rays are ubiquitous, but their origins are surprisingly difficult to understand. A review is presented of some of the basic issues common to cosmic particle accelerators and arguments leading to the likely importance of diffusive…
Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs) are thought to be accelerated in strong shocks induced by massive star winds and supernova explosions sweeping across the interstellar medium. But the phase of the interstellar medium from which the CRs are…
I give a synopsis of two aspects of the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) acceleration problem: the importance of the medium energy gamma-ray window, and several specific astrophysical sources which merit further investigation.
Cosmic Ray (CR) acceleration still challenges the researchers. Fast particles may be accelerated in astrophysical environments by a variety of processes. Acceleration in magnetic reconnection sites in particular, has lately attracted the…
The problem in identifying the sites of origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays (CRs) is reviewed. Recent observational evidence from very-high energy (VHE, energies above 100 GeV) gamma-ray measurements is in contradiction with the surmise that…
Cosmic rays are deemed to be generated by a process known as ``Fermi acceleration", in which charged particles scatter against magnetic fluctuations in astrophysical plasmas. The process itself is however universal, has both classical and…
Cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of large scale structure in the universe have shown that accretion shocks and merger shocks form due to flow motions associated with the gravitational collapse of nonlinear structures. Estimated speed…
The composition of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) presents strong similarities to the standard (cosmic) composition, but also noticeable differences, the most important being the high isotopic ratio of Ne22/Ne20 which is about 5 times higher in…
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…
Galactic cosmic rays are widely believed to be accelerated in expanding shock waves initiated by supernova explosions. The theory of diffusive shock acceleration of cosmic rays is now well established, but two fundamental questions remain…
Since their first observation in 1962, the existence of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) remains a mystery in modern astrophysics. Those cosmic rays, with energies well above 50 EeV ($50\times 10^{18}$eV), can hardly be accelerated,…
A rapidly growing amount of evidences, mostly coming from the recent gamma-ray observations of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs), is seriously challenging our understanding of how particles are accelerated at fast shocks. The cosmic-ray…
The non-thermal particle spectra responsible for the emission from many astrophysical systems are thought to originate from shocks via a first order Fermi process otherwise known as diffusive shock acceleration. The same mechanism is also…
The acceleration of ultra high energy cosmic rays is conjectured to occur through various interactions with the electromagnetic fields in different astrophysical objects, like magnetic matter clumps, besides the well-known shock and…
Nonthermal phenomena are ubiquitous in the Universe, and cosmic rays (CRs) play various roles in different environments. When, where, and how CRs are first generated since the Big Bang? We argue that blast waves from the first cosmic…