Related papers: Low Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions in Astrophysics
Cosmic rays are relativistic particles that come to the Earth from outer space. Despite a great effort made in both experimental and theoretical research, their origin is still unknown. One of the main keys to understand their nature is the…
Several of the models for origin of the highest energy cosmic rays also predict significant neutrino fluxes. A common factor of the models is that they must provide sufficient power to supply the observed energy in the extragalactic…
We propose a model in which ultra high energy cosmic rays are produced by collisions between neutron stars and axion stars. The acceleration of such a cosmic ray is made by the electric field, $\sim 10^{15} (B/10^{12} {G}) {eV} {cm}^{-1}$,…
Many of the basic problems in the astrophysics of charged Cosmic Rays remain on principle unresolved by in situ observations in the Solar System due to the chaotic nature of the propagation of these particles in Interstellar space. This…
Cosmic rays (CR), both solar and Galactic, have an ionising effect on the Earth's atmosphere and are thought to be important for prebiotic molecule production. In particular, the $\rm{H_2}$-dominated atmosphere following an ocean-vaporising…
We survey the theory and experimental tests for the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy up to energies of 10^15 eV. A guide to the previous reviews and essential literature is given, followed by an exposition of basic principles. The…
Candidate astrophysical acceleration sites capable of producing the highest energy cosmic rays (E > 10^{19.5} eV) appear to be at far greater distances than is compatible with their being known particles. The properties of a new particle…
Recent high energy gamma-ray observations of both single supernova remnants and superbubbles, together with observations of supernovae, star formation regions, and local cosmic ray composition, now provide an integrated framework tying…
Air showers, produced by the interaction of energetic cosmic rays with the atmosphere, are an excellent alternative to study particle physics at energies beyond any human-made particle accelerator. For that, it is necessary to identify…
Cosmic rays can interact with the solar atmosphere and produce a slew of secondary messengers, making the Sun a bright gamma-ray source in the sky. Detailed observations with Fermi-LAT have shown that these interactions must be strongly…
The latest results on the sky distribution of ultra-high energy cosmic ray sources have consequences for their nature and time structure. If the sources accelerate predominantly nuclei of atomic number A and charge Z and emit continuously,…
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 show that ``top-down'' mechanisms of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays which involve heavy relic particle-like objects predict Galactic anisotropy of highest energy cosmic rays at the level of minimum $\sim 20%$. This anisotropy is large…
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…
We propose a model in which ultra high energy cosmic rays and gamma ray bursts are produced by collisions between neutron stars and axion stars. The acceleration of such a cosmic ray is made by the electric field, $\sim 10^{15} (B/10^{12}…
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 discuss the effects of diffusion of high energy cosmic rays in turbulent extra-galactic magnetic fields. We find an approximate expression for the low energy suppression of the spectrum of the different mass components (with charge $Z$)…
From the analysis of AGASA data above $4 \times 10^{19}$ eV, we show that the ultra-high energy cosmic rays flux is neither purely isotropic, nor reflects the expected anisotropy from a pure source distribution that maps large scale…
One of the models recently proposed to explain the origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays assumes that these particles may be accelerated by the electromotive force around presently inactive quasar remnants. We study predictions for…
Historically cosmic rays have always been at the intersection of astrophysics with particle physics. This is still and especially true in current days where experimenters routinely observe atmospheric showers from particles whose energies…