Related papers: Approaching the knee -- balloon-borne observations…
The most recent experimental results on the cosmic ray composition and energy spectrum above 1 TeV are reviewed and discussed. All data agree on the presence of the so-called ``knee'' at an energy E(knee) = 3-4 PeV; the knee is seen in all…
Recent observations of cosmic ray protons in the energy range $10^2$--$10^5$~GeV have revealed that the spectrum cannot be described by a simple power law. A hardening of the spectrum around an energy of order few hundred~GeV, first…
Primary cosmic ray particles above energies of about 100 TeV are investigated by large-area ground based detector installations, observing various components of the development of extensive air-showers (EAS). By such an indirect access to…
Cosmic rays around the knee are generally believed to be of galactic origin. Observations on their energy spectrum and chemical composition are important for understanding the acceleration and propagation of these cosmic rays. In addition,…
We report the high-purity identification of cosmic-ray (CR) protons and a precise measurement of their energy spectrum from 0.15 to 12 PeV using the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). Abundant event statistics, combined…
The knee in the all-particle energy spectrum is scrutinized with a phenomenological model, named poly-gonato model, linking results from direct and indirect measurements. For this purpose, recent results from direct and indirect…
The precise measurement of the spectrum of protons, the most abundant component of the cosmic radiation, is necessary to understand the source and acceleration of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. This work reports the measurement of the cosmic…
The diffuse $\gamma$-ray emission was measured up to $957$ TeV by the Tibet-AS$\gamma$ experiment recently. Assuming that it is produced by the hadronic interaction between cosmic ray nuclei and the interstellar medium, it requires that the…
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…
More than fifty years after the discovery of the knee in the cosmic ray spectra, its physical origin remains a mystery. This is partly due to the ambiguity of the energy spectrum of individual composition. Recently, direct measurements from…
In the last two decades, different advances with extensive air shower (EAS) experiments have allowed to unveil several details about the composition and energy spectrum of galactic cosmic rays from some TeV up to several hundreds of PeV,…
The accurate determination of the elemental composition of cosmic rays at high energies is expected to provide crucial clues on the origin of these particles. Previous direct measurements of composition have been limited by experiment…
Recent results of advanced experiments with sophisticated measurements of cosmic rays in the energy range of the so called knee at a few PeV indicate a distinct knee in the energy spectra of light primary cosmic rays and an increasing…
The primary proton spectrum up to 100 TeV has been investigated by balloon- and satellite-borne instruments. Above this energy range only ground-based air shower arrays can measure the cosmic ray spectrum with a technique moderately…
We present the results from the CAKE (Cosmic Abundance below Knee Energy) balloon experiment which uses nuclear track detectors. The final experiment goal is the determination of the charge spectrum of CR nuclei with Z > 30 in the primary…
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…
Recent results from the KASCADE experiment on measurements of cosmic rays in the energy range of the knee are presented. Emphasis is placed on energy spectra of individual mass groups as obtained from sophisticated unfolding procedures…
Recent progress suggests we are moving towards a quantitative understanding of the whole cosmic ray spectrum, and that many bumps due to different components and processes hide beneath a relatively smooth total flux between knee and ankle.…
This paper briefly summarizes the status of the cosmic ray observations by EAS (Extended Air Shower) experiments with energy below 10**16eV and the related studies of the hadronic interaction models. Based on the observed sharp knee…
In the last years the direct measurement of cosmic rays received a push forward by the possibility of conducting experiments on board long duration balloon flights, satellites and on the International Space Station. The increase in the…