Related papers: Cosmic-ray composition and its relation to shock a…
A brief review about the chemical composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10^15 < E < 10^20 eV is given. While there is convincing evidence for an increasingly heavier composition above the knee, no clear picture has emerged at the…
The present experimental status concerning the composition of cosmic rays in the PeV region is reviewed. The results are compared to predictions of contemporary models for the acceleration and propagation of galactic cosmic rays.
The supernova paradigm for the origin of galactic cosmic rays has been deeply affected by the development of the non-linear theory of particle acceleration at shock waves. Here we discuss the implications of applying such theory to the…
The paper investigates the overall and detailed features of cosmic ray (CR) spectra in the knee region using the scenario of nuclei-photon interactions around the acceleration sources. Young supernova remnants can be the physical realities…
The origin of cosmic rays holds still many mysteries hundred years after they were first discovered. Supernova remnants have for long been the most likely sources of Galactic cosmic rays. I discuss here some recent evidence that suggests…
In this lecture I give an overview of shock acceleration, interactions of high energy cosmic rays with, and propagation through, the background radiation, and the resulting electron-photon cascade. I argue that while the origin of the…
The gamma-ray observations of molecular clouds associated with supernova remnants are considered one of the most promising ways to search for a solution of the problem of cosmic ray origin. Here we briefly review the status of the field,…
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,…
The arguments surrounding the Galactic component of the cosmic rays, the energy budget, questions of composition, spectral features, anisotropy, sources etc, will be critically examined. We are moving into a new phase in the study of the…
Physicists have pondered the origin of cosmic rays for over a hundred years. However the last few years have seen an upsurge in the observation, progress in the theory and a genuine increase in the importance attached to the topic due to…
I develop a theory to account for the cosmic ray spectrum. The essential assumption is that, due to fast convective motions, the free mean path perpendicular to the magnetic field is independent of energy and has the scale of the thickness…
The present paper deals with calculations based on a standard model of cosmic ray acceleration in Supernova remnants (SNR) and on the latest astronomical data concerning the variety in Supernovae types, energies as well as the sites of…
Diffusive shock acceleration operating at expanding supernova remnant shells is by far the most popular model for the origin of galactic cosmic rays. Despite the general consensus received by this model, an unambiguous and conclusive proof…
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…
Recent progress in cosmic ray physics covering the energy range from about 10^{14} eV to 10^{19} eV is reviewed. The most prominent features of the energy spectrum are the so called `knee' at E ~ 3 * 10^{15} eV and the `ankle' at few…
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.…
The recent success of a proposal from some time ago to explain the spectrum of cosmic rays allows some strong conclusions to be made on the physics of supernovae: In the context of this specific proposal to explain the origin of cosmic…
It is generally regarded that the bulk of cosmic rays originate in the Galaxy and that those below the 'knee' (the rapid steepening in the energy spectrum) at a few PeV come from Galactic supernovae, the particles being accelerated by the…
Accelerated particles are ubiquitous in the Cosmos and play a fundamental role in many processes governing the evolution of the Universe at all scales, from the sub-AU ones relevant for the formation and evolution of stars and planets to…
Galactic cosmic rays are believed to be accelerated at supernova remnant shocks. Though very popular and robust, this conjecture still needs a conclusive proof. The strongest support to this idea is probably the fact that supernova remnants…