Related papers: Testing the correlations between ultra-high-energy…
We briefly discuss three aspects related to the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) namely: 1) particle acceleration in astrophysical sources; 2) transition to an extragalactic origin; 3) spectrum and anisotropies at the…
We briefly review sources of cosmic rays, their composition and spectra as well as their propagation in the galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields, both regular and fluctuating. A special attention is paid to the recent results of the…
We discuss the basic difficulties in understanding the origin of the highest energy particles in the Universe - the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECR). It is difficult to imagine the sources they are accelerated in. Because of the strong…
The quest for the origin(s) of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) continues to be a far-reaching pillar of high energy astrophysics. The source scrutiny is mostly based on three observables: the energy spectrum, the nuclear composition,…
The majority of the highest energy cosmic rays are thought to be electrically charged: protons or nuclei. Charged particles experience angular deflections as they pass through galactic and extra-galactic magnetic fields. As a consequence…
I review the status of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) physics.After introducing the main experimental results and summarizing possible intepretations, I discuss observational and theoretical constraints on the sources of UHECRs. I…
The arrival directions of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) may show anisotropies on all scales, from just above the experimental angular resolution up to medium scales and dipole anisotropies. We find that a global comparison of the…
A fundamental question that can be answered in the next decade is: WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE HIGHEST ENERGY COSMIC PARTICLES? The discovery of the sources of the highest energy cosmic rays will reveal the workings of the most energetic…
Cosmic rays are charged relativistic particles that reach the Earth with extremely high energies, providing striking evidence of the existence of effective accelerators in the Universe. Below an energy around $\sim 10^{17}$ eV cosmic rays…
Possible extragalactic sources of cosmic rays at energies above 4*10^{19} eV detected with the Yakutsk array are sought. Correlation of the shower arrival directions with objects from Veron's catalog that are located closer than 100 Mpc…
We shortly discuss several astrophysical scenarios leading to cosmic ray acceleration up to extremely high energies reaching the scale of 10^{20} eV. The processes suggested in the literature include acceleration at relativistic jet…
Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are expected to be accelerated in astrophysical sources and to travel through extragalactic space before hitting the Earth atmosphere. They interact both with the environment in the source and with the…
Recent measurements of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos are briefly reviewed. With several new large scale observatories nearing completion or becoming fully operational only very recently, a large body of high quality and high…
The understanding of the nature of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is one of the most intriguing open questions for current and future observatories. These particles are expected to be accelerated in extragalactic sources. Because of their…
Recently the Telescope Array collaboration reported an observation of cosmic ray event with very high energy 244 EeV ($2.44 \times 10^{20}$ eV). Importantly, the event is hard to correlate with the matter distribution in the local Universe,…
The origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is one of the most intriguing problems of modern cosmic ray physics. We briefly review the main astrophysical models of their origin and the forthcoming orbital experiments TUS and…
Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are the most energetic of any subatomic particles ever observed in nature. The quest for their mysterious origin is currently a major scientific challenge. Here we explore the possibility that these particles…
Significant progress has been made over the past decades towards unveiling the sources of the most energetic particles in nature, the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). Despite these advancements, the exact astrophysical sites capable…
We explore scenarios where the highest energy cosmic rays (HECR) are produced by new particle physics near the grand unification scale. Using detailed numerical simulations of extragalactic cosmic and gamma-ray propagation, we show the…
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…