Related papers: Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
The problem of the origin of Cosmic Rays is now over a century old and while there has been substantial progress, especially in the last decade, there are still open questions. The question of "origin" is open to at least three possible…
After a brief review of galactic cosmic rays in the GeV to TeV energy range, we describe some current problems of interest for particles of very high energy. Particularly interesting are two features of the spectrum, the `knee' above…
The origin of cosmic rays with energies higher than 10$^{20}$ eV remains a mystery. Accelerating particles up to these energies is a challenge even for the most energetic astrophysical objects known. While the isotropy in arrival directions…
Recent international efforts have brought us closer to unveiling the century old mystery of the origin of cosmic rays. Cosmic ray, gamma ray, and neutrino observatories are reaching the necessary sensitivity to study the highest energy…
In this paper we briefly discuss the problem of the origin of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays in the framework of Top-Down models. We show that, for high energy of decays and in a wide range of spectra of injected protons, their extragalactic…
We review the experimental evidences about flux and mass composition of ultra high energy cosmic rays in connection with theoretical scenarios concerning astrophysical sources. In this context, we also address the discussion about the…
This paper presents a brief review of the current status of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray observations and discusses nearby starburst-like galaxies as their possible origin.
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…
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…
We discuss the relation between the acceleration spectra of extragalactic cosmic ray protons and the luminosity and cosmological evolution of their sources and the production of ultra high energy cosmogenic neutrinos in their propagation…
This white paper was submitted to the US Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey (Astro2020) and defines the science questions to be answered in the next decade in the field of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic-Rays. Following a review of the…
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 wealth of data collected in the last few years thanks to the Pierre Auger Observatory and recently to the Telescope Array made the problem of the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays a genuinely experimental/observational one. The…
The current status of the theory of particle acceleration at relativistic shocks is presented, and a few possible scenarios for ultra-high-energy cosmic ray production at such shocks are briefly discussed.
It is shown that the acceleration of particles by a powerful relativistic jet associated with the activity of a supermassive black hole in the Galactic center several million years ago may explain the observed cosmic ray spectrum at…
We consider the modification of extragalactic cosmic ray spectrum caused by cosmic ray interactions with infrared background photons which are present in the extragalactic space together with relic photons. It is assumed that cosmic ray…
We discuss the relation between the highest energy cosmic rays (UHECR) and UHE neutrinos. The neutrinos produced in the sources of optically thin astrophysical sources have been linked to the UHECR emissivity of the Universe. The fluxes of…
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…
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…
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,…