Restriction of cosmic-ray acceleration, mechanisms by high-energy Be7/Be data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orth, C.D.; Buffington, A.; Mast, T.S.

1979-01-01

New high-energy cosmic-ray Be data indicate that the ratio Be 7 /Be drops by approximately a factor of two between 200 and 1500 MeV/nucleon. This result may provide a severe constraint for theories of cosmic-ray acceleration

Acceleration of cosmic rays in supernova-remnants

Science.gov (United States)

Dorfi, E. A.; Drury, L. O.

1985-01-01

It is commonly accepted that supernova-explosions are the dominant source of cosmic rays up to an energy of 10 to the 14th power eV/nucleon. Moreover, these high energy particles provide a major contribution to the energy density of the interstellar medium (ISM) and should therefore be included in calculations of interstellar dynamic phenomena. For the following the first order Fermi mechanism in shock waves are considered to be the main acceleration mechanism. The influence of this process is twofold; first, if the process is efficient (and in fact this is the cas) it will modify the dynamics and evolution of a supernova-remnant (SNR), and secondly, the existence of a significant high energy component changes the overall picture of the ISM. The complexity of the underlying physics prevented detailed investigations of the full non-linear selfconsistent problem. For example, in the context of the energy balance of the ISM it has not been investigated how much energy of a SN-explosion can be transfered to cosmic rays in a time-dependent selfconsistent model. Nevertheless, a lot of progress was made on many aspects of the acceleration mechanism.

Acceleration of cosmic rays in supernova-remnants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorfi, E.A.; Drury, L.O.

1985-01-01

It is commonly accepted that supernova-explosions are the dominant source of cosmic rays up to an energy of 10 to the 14th power eV/nucleon. Moreover, these high energy particles provide a major contribution to the energy density of the interstellar medium (ISM) and should therefore be included in calcuations of interstellar dynamic phenomena. For the following the first order Fermi mechanism in shock waves are considered to be the main acceleration mechanism. The influence of this process is twofold; first, if the process is efficient (and in fact this is the case) it will modify the dynamics and evolution of a supernova-remnant (SNR), and secondly, the existence of a significant high energy component changes the overall picture of the ISM. The complexity of the underlying physics prevented detailed investigations of the full non-linear selfconsistent problem. For example, in the context of the energy balance of the ISM it has not been investigated how much energy of a SN-explosion can be transfered to cosmic rays in a time-dependent selfconsistent model. Nevertheless, a lot of progress was made on many aspects of the acceleration mechnism

Cosmic Accelerators: An Introduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanbach, Gottfried

2005-01-01

High energy, relativistic, particles are an essential component of the Universe and play a major role in astrophysics. In a few years we will reach the centennial of the discovery of cosmic rays; all through this century the properties, origin, and effects of this radiation have intrigued researchers in astrophysics and elementary particles alike. We briefly review the history, current status, and future perspectives of cosmic ray research. Emphasis will be placed on the multitude of cosmic accelerators, direct observations of these objects, and the effects of cosmic rays in the Galaxy and beyond

A cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays detected by Fermi in the Cygnus Superbubble

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackermann, M.; Ajello, A.; Allafort, A.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R.D.; Bloom, E.D.; Borgland, A.W.; Bottacini, E.; Buehler, R.; Cameron, R.A.; Chiang, J.; Claus, R.; Do Couto e Silva, E.; Drell, P.S.; Focke, W.B.; Glanzman, T.; Godfrey, G.; Hayashida, M.; Johnson, A.S.; Kamae, T.; Kerr, M.; Lande, J.; Michelson, P.F.; Mitthumsiri, W.; Monzani, M.E.; Moskalenko, I.V.; Murgia, S.; Nolan, P.L.; Okumura, A.; Orlando, E.; Paneque, D.; Prokhorov, D.; Tanaka, T.; Thayer, J.G.; Thayer, J.B.; Tramacere, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Vianello, G.; Waite, A.P.; Wang, P.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Kuss, M.; Latronico, L.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Razzano, M.; Sgro, C.; Ballet, J.; Casandjian, J.M.; Grenier, I.A.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Pierbattista, M.; Tibaldo, L.

2011-01-01

The origin of Galactic cosmic rays is a century-long puzzle. Indirect evidence points to their acceleration by supernova shock waves, but we know little of their escape from the shock and their evolution through the turbulent medium surrounding massive stars. Gamma rays can probe their spreading through the ambient gas and radiation fields. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has observed the star-forming region of Cygnus X. The 1- to 100-giga-electron-volt images reveal a 50-parsec-wide cocoon of freshly accelerated cosmic rays that flood the cavities carved by the stellar winds and ionization fronts from young stellar clusters. It provides an example to study the youth of cosmic rays in a superbubble environment before they merge into the older Galactic population. (authors)

Cosmic Rays Accelerated at Cosmological Shock Waves Renyi Ma1 ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Cosmic Rays Accelerated at Cosmological Shock Waves. Renyi Ma1,2,∗ ... ratio of CR to thermal energy in the ICM and WHIM based on numerical simulations and diffusive shock ... Hence, the nonthermal radiation of CRs may provide us a.

Generation of mesoscale magnetic fields and the dynamics of Cosmic Ray acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Diamond, P. H.; Malkov, M. A.

The problem of the cosmic ray origin is discussed in connection with their acceleration in supernova remnant shocks. The diffusive shock acceleration mechanism is reviewed and its potential to accelerate particles to the maximum energy of (presumably) galactic cosmic rays (1018eV ) is considered. It is argued that to reach such energies, a strong magnetic field at scales larger than the particle gyroradius must be created as a result of the acceleration process, itself. One specific mechanism suggested here is based on the generation of Alfven wave at the gyroradius scale with a subsequent transfer to longer scales via interaction with strong acoustic turbulence in the shock precursor. The acoustic turbulence in turn, may be generated by Drury instability or by parametric instability of the Alfven waves. The generation mechanism is modulational instability of CR generated Alfven wave packets induced, in turn, by scattering off acoustic fluctuations in the shock precursor which are generated by Drury instability.

High energy cosmic rays

CERN Document Server

Stanev, Todor

2010-01-01

Offers an accessible text and reference (a cosmic-ray manual) for graduate students entering the field and high-energy astrophysicists will find this an accessible cosmic-ray manual Easy to read for the general astronomer, the first part describes the standard model of cosmic rays based on our understanding of modern particle physics. Presents the acceleration scenario in some detail in supernovae explosions as well as in the passage of cosmic rays through the Galaxy. Compares experimental data in the atmosphere as well as underground are compared with theoretical models

Very high-energy gamma-ray signature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray acceleration in Centaurus A

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Jagdish C.; Miranda, Luis Salvador; Razzaque, Soebur; Yang, Lili

2018-04-01

The association of at least a dozen ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) events with energy ≳ 55 EeV detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) from the direction of Centaurus-A, the nearest radio galaxy, supports the scenario of UHECR acceleration in the jets of radio galaxies. In this work, we model radio to very high energy (VHE,≳ 100 GeV) γ-ray emission from Cen A, including GeV hardness detected by Fermi-LAT and TeV emission detected by HESS. We consider two scenarios: (i) Two zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) and external-Compton (EC) models, (ii) Two zone SSC, EC and photo-hadronic emission from cosmic ray interactions. The GeV hardness observed by Fermi-LAT can be explained using these two scenarios, where zone 2 EC emission is very important. Hadronic emission in scenario (ii) can explain VHE data with the same spectral slope as obtained through fitting UHECRs from Cen A. The peak luminosity in cosmic ray proton at 1 TeV, to explain the VHE γ-ray data is ≈2.5 × 1046 erg/s. The bolometric luminosity in cosmic ray protons is consistent with the luminosity required to explain the origin of 13 UHECR signal events that are correlated with Cen A.

Geneva University: Particle Acceleration in supernova remnants and its implications for the origin of galactic cosmic rays

CERN Multimedia

Université de Genève

2012-01-01

GENEVA UNIVERSITY École de physique Département de physique nucléaire et corspusculaire 24, quai Ernest-Ansermet 1211 Genève 4 Tél.: (022) 379 62 73 Fax: (022) 379 69 92 Wednesday 28 March 2012 SEMINAIRE DE PHYSIQUE CORPUSCULAIRE 11h15 - Science III, Auditoire 1S081 Particle Acceleration in supernova remnants and its implications for the origin of galactic cosmic rays Prof. Pasquale BLASI INAF, Arcetri Observatory, Firenze The process of cosmic ray energization in supernova remnant shocks is described by the theory of non linear diffusive shock acceleration (NLDSA). Such theory is able to describe the acceleration itself, the dynamical reaction of accelerated particles on the shock, and the crucial phenomenon of the magnetic field amplification, the very key to generate high energy cosmic rays. I will illustrate the basic aspects of this theoretical framework, as well as its successes and problems. I will then discuss the observations, in X-rays an...

High-energy cosmic rays

CERN Document Server

Cronin, James Watson

1996-01-01

Recently two cosmic rays with energy in excess of 2 1020 eV have been recorded. These are some 108 times more energetic than the protons produced by accelerators on earth. There is no credible understanding of the mechanism of acceleration by known a Because of the short mean free path in the cosmic background radiation they must come from nearby distances on a cosmological scale (< 50 Mpc). Their magnetic rigidity suggests that they should point to their source. Lectures will cover the present available data on the highest energy cosmic rays, their detection, possible acceleration mechanisms, their propagation in the galaxy and in extra galactic space and design of new detectors where simulations of air show ers play an important role.

COLLISIONLESS SHOCKS IN A PARTIALLY IONIZED MEDIUM. III. EFFICIENT COSMIC RAY ACCELERATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morlino, G.; Blasi, P.; Bandiera, R.; Amato, E. [INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi, 5, I-50125 Firenze (Italy); Caprioli, D. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

2013-05-10

In this paper, we present the first formulation of the theory of nonlinear particle acceleration in collisionless shocks in the presence of neutral hydrogen in the acceleration region. The dynamical reaction of the accelerated particles, the magnetic field amplification, and the magnetic dynamical effects on the shock are also included. The main new aspect of this study, however, consists of accounting for charge exchange and the ionization of a neutral hydrogen, which profoundly change the structure of the shock, as discussed in our previous work. This important dynamical effect of neutrals is mainly associated with the so-called neutral return flux, namely the return of hot neutrals from the downstream region to upstream, where they deposit energy and momentum through charge exchange and ionization. We also present the self-consistent calculation of Balmer line emission from the shock region and discuss how to use measurements of the anomalous width of the different components of the Balmer line to infer cosmic ray acceleration efficiency in supernova remnants showing Balmer emission: the broad Balmer line, which is due to charge exchange of hydrogen atoms with hot ions downstream of the shock, is shown to become narrower as a result of the energy drainage into cosmic rays, while the narrow Balmer line, due to charge exchange in the cosmic-ray-induced precursor, is shown to become broader. In addition to these two well-known components, the neutral return flux leads to the formation of a third component with an intermediate width: this too contains information on ongoing processes at the shock.

Cosmic ray acceleration by shock waves in a diffusion medium. Research of high energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lagage, P.O.

1982-06-01

The problem of galactic cosmic-ray acceleration is presented with the study of a new acceleration mechanism by supernova shock waves in a diffusive medium. The question is: do supernova shocks have enough time to accelerate cosmic rays beyond 10 4 -10 5 GeV. A firm upper limit to the energy that can be acquired by particles is established and it is considered that the mean free path of the particle has its lowest possible value and the most favorable model of supernova evolution. The diffusion coefficients which are relevant for the determination of the high energy cut off are investigated. The effect of the spatial dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the rate of acceleration of particles is examined. A more realistic cut off energy is calculated. We find E max = 2 10 4 GeV [fr

The acceleration rate of cosmic rays at cosmic ray modified shocks

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Tatsuhiko; Hoshino, Masahiro; Amano, Takanobu

It is a still controversial matter whether the production efficiency of cosmic rays (CRs) is relatively efficient or inefficient (e.g. Helder et al. 2009; Hughes et al. 2000; Fukui 2013). In upstream region of SNR shocks (the interstellar medium), the energy density of CRs is comparable to a substantial fraction of that of the thermal plasma (e.g. Ferriere 2001). In such a situation, CRs can possibly exert a back-reaction to the shocks and modify the global shock structure. These shocks are called cosmic ray modified shocks (CRMSs). In CRMSs, as a result of the nonlinear feedback, there are almost always up to three steady-state solutions for given upstream parameters, which are characterized by CR production efficiencies (efficient, intermediate and inefficient branch). We evaluate qualitatively the efficiency of the CR production in SNR shocks by considering the stability of CRMS, under the effects of i) magnetic fields and ii) injection, which play significant roles in efficiency of acceleration. By adopting two-fluid model (Drury & Voelk, 1981), we investigate the stability of CRMSs by means of time-dependent numerical simulations. As a result, we show explicitly the bi-stable feature of these multiple solutions, i.e., the efficient and inefficient branches are stable and the intermediate branch is unstable, and the intermediate branch transit to the inefficient one. This feature is independent of the effects of i) shock angles and ii) injection. Furthermore, we investigate the evolution from a hydrodynamic shock to CRMS in a self-consistent manner. From the results, we suggest qualitatively that the CR production efficiency at SNR shocks may be the least efficient.

High energy physics in cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Lawrence W. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (United States)

2013-02-07

In the first half-century of cosmic ray physics, the primary research focus was on elementary particles; the positron, pi-mesons, mu-mesons, and hyperons were discovered in cosmic rays. Much of this research was carried out at mountain elevations; Pic du Midi in the Pyrenees, Mt. Chacaltaya in Bolivia, and Mt. Evans/Echo Lake in Colorado, among other sites. In the 1960s, claims of the observation of free quarks, and satellite measurements of a significant rise in p-p cross sections, plus the delay in initiating accelerator construction programs for energies above 100 GeV, motivated the Michigan-Wisconsin group to undertake a serious cosmic ray program at Echo Lake. Subsequently, with the succession of higher energy accelerators and colliders at CERN and Fermilab, cosmic ray research has increasingly focused on cosmology and astrophysics, although some groups continue to study cosmic ray particle interactions in emulsion chambers.

Gamma ray astronomy and the origin of galactic cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabici, Stefano

2011-01-01

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 the model, an unambiguous and conclusive proof of the supernova remnant hypothesis is still missing. In this context, the recent developments in gamma ray astronomy provide us with precious insights into the problem of the origin of galactic cosmic rays, since production of gamma rays is expected both during the acceleration of cosmic rays at supernova remnant shocks and during their subsequent propagation in the interstellar medium. In particular, the recent detection of a number of supernova remnants at TeV energies nicely fits with the model, but it still does not constitute a conclusive proof of it, mainly due to the difficulty of disentangling the hadronic and leptonic contributions to the observed gamma ray emission. The main goal of my research is to search for an unambiguous and conclusive observational test for proving (or disproving) the idea that supernova remnants are the sources of galactic cosmic rays with energies up to (at least) the cosmic ray knee. Our present comprehension of the mechanisms of particle acceleration at shocks and of the propagation of cosmic rays in turbulent magnetic fields encourages beliefs that such a conclusive test might come from future observations of supernova remnants and of the Galaxy in the almost unexplored domain of multi-TeV gamma rays. (author)

Acceleration of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays in starburst superwinds

Science.gov (United States)

Anchordoqui, Luis Alfredo

2018-03-01

The sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) have been stubbornly elusive. However, the latest report of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides a compelling indication for a possible correlation between the arrival directions of UHECRs and nearby starburst galaxies. We argue that if starbursts are sources of UHECRs, then particle acceleration in the large-scale terminal shock of the superwind that flows from the starburst engine represents the best known concept model in the market. We investigate new constraints on the model and readjust free parameters accordingly. We show that UHECR acceleration above about 1 011 GeV remains consistent with observation. We also show that the model could accommodate hard source spectra as required by Auger data. We demonstrate how neutrino emission can be used as a discriminator among acceleration models.

Interpreting the cosmic ray composition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' C Drury, L.; Ellisson, D.C; Meyer, J.-P

2000-01-31

The detailed pattern of elemental abundances in the Galactic Cosmic Rays is well determined at energies of a few GeV per nucleon. After correction for propagation effects the inferred source composition shows significant deviations from the standard pattern of Galactic elemental abundances. These deviations, surprisingly overabundances of the heavy elements relative to Hydrogen, are clearly a significant clue to the origin of the cosmic rays, but one which has proven very difficult to interpret. We have recently shown that the 'standard' model for the origin of the bulk of the Galactic cosmic rays, namely acceleration by the diffusive shock acceleration process at the strong shocks associated with supernova remnants, can quantitatively explain all features of the source composition if the acceleration occurs from a dusty interstellar medium. This success must be regarded as one of the stronger pieces of evidence in favour of the standard model.

Interpreting the cosmic ray composition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'C Drury, L.; Ellisson, D.C; Meyer, J.-P.

2000-01-01

The detailed pattern of elemental abundances in the Galactic Cosmic Rays is well determined at energies of a few GeV per nucleon. After correction for propagation effects the inferred source composition shows significant deviations from the standard pattern of Galactic elemental abundances. These deviations, surprisingly overabundances of the heavy elements relative to Hydrogen, are clearly a significant clue to the origin of the cosmic rays, but one which has proven very difficult to interpret. We have recently shown that the 'standard' model for the origin of the bulk of the Galactic cosmic rays, namely acceleration by the diffusive shock acceleration process at the strong shocks associated with supernova remnants, can quantitatively explain all features of the source composition if the acceleration occurs from a dusty interstellar medium. This success must be regarded as one of the stronger pieces of evidence in favour of the standard model

AMS-02 data confront acceleration of cosmic ray secondaries in nearby sources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mertsch, Philipp; Sarkar, Subir

2014-01-01

We revisit the model proposed earlier to account for the observed increase in the positron fraction in cosmic rays with increasing energy, in the light of new data from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) experiment. The model accounts for the production and acceleration of secondary electrons...

Cosmic ray riddle solved?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

Full text: Physicists from Japan and the United States have discovered a possible answer to the puzzle of the origin of high energy cosmic rays that bombard Earth from all directions in space. Using data from the Japanese/US X-ray astronomical satellite ASCA, physicists have found strong evidence for the production of cosmic particles in the shock wave of a supernova remnant, the expanding fireball produced by the explosion of a star. Primary cosmic rays, mostly electrons and protons, travel near the speed of light. Each second, approximately 4 such particles cross one square centimetre of space just outside the Earth's atmosphere. Subsequently, collisions of these primary particles with atoms in the upper atmosphere produce slower secondary particles. Ever since the discovery of cosmic rays early this century, scientists have debated the origin of these particles and how they can be accelerated to such high speeds. Supernova remnants have long been thought to provide the high energy component, but the evidence has been lacking until now. The international team of investigators used the satellite to determine that cosmic rays are generated profusely in the remains of the supernova of 1006 AD - which appeared to medieval viewers to be as bright as the Moon - and that they are accelerated to high velocities by an iterative process first suggested by Enrico Fermi in 1949. Using solid-state X-ray cameras, the ASCA satellite records simultaneous images and spectra of X-rays from celestial sources, allowing astronomers to distinguish different types of X-ray emission. The tell-tale clue to the discovery was the detection of two diametrically opposite regions in the rapidly expanding supernova remnant, the debris from the stellar explosion. The two regions glow intensely from the synchrotron radiation produced when fast-moving electrons are bent by a magnetic field. The remainder of the supernova remnant, in contrast, emits ordinary ''thermal'' X-rays

Closing CMS to hunt cosmic rays

CERN Multimedia

Claudia Marcelloni

2006-01-01

Every second the Earth is bombarded by billions of cosmic rays and occasionally one of these cosmic particles will collide with the Earth's atmosphere generating a shower of particles known as an 'air shower'. This is similiar to the collisions and subsequent particle showers observed in accelerators such as the LHC. Here the CMS detector is closed so that systems can be tested using muon cosmic rays in the 'Cosmic Challenge'.

Cosmic ray acceleration in sources of the supersonic turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bykov, A.M.; Toptygin, I.N.

1981-01-01

The mechanism of particle acceleration by the supersonic turbulence is studied. The supersonic turbulence is defined as an ensemble of large- and small-scale plasma motions, in which along with the ranges of smooth parameter variation there are randomly distributed shock wave fronts. Particle interaction with the large-scale turbulence is described by the transfer equation which is true at any relation between the Larmor radius and the transport length. The large-scale turbulence can accelerate particles only due to compressibility effects of the medium. The basic theoretical results concerning turbulence properties in compressed media are presented. Concrete physical conditions and the possibility of acceleration of cosmic rays in the interplanetary space, in the vicinity of suppergiant stars of the O and B class with a great loss of mass and strong stellar winds, in supernova remnants, in the interstellar medium and some extragalactic radio sources are considered [ru

The History of Cosmic Ray Studies after Hess

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grupen, Claus, E-mail: grupen@physik.uni-siegen.de

2013-06-15

The discovery of cosmic rays by Victor Hess was confirmed with balloon flights at higher altitudes by Kolhörster. Soon the interest turned into questions about the nature of cosmic rays: gamma rays or particles? Subsequent investigations have established cosmic rays as the birthplace of elementary particle physics. The 1936 Nobel prize was shared between Victor Hess and Carl Anderson. Anderson discovered the positron in a cloud chamber. The positron was predicted by Dirac several years earlier. Many new results came now from studies with cloud chambers and nuclear emulsions. Anderson and Neddermeyer saw the muon, which for some time was considered to be a candidate for the Yukawa particle responsible for nuclear binding. Lattes, Powell, Occhialini and Muirhead clarified the situation by the discovery of the charged pions in cosmic rays. Rochester and Butler found V's, which turned out to be short-lived neutral kaons decaying into a pair of charged pions. Λ's, Σ's and Ξ's were found in cosmic rays using nuclear emulsions. After that period, accelerators and storage rings took over. The unexpected renaissance of cosmic rays started with the search for solar neutrinos and the observation of the supernova 1987A and other accelerators in the sky. With the observation of neutrino oscillations one began to look beyond the standard model of elementary particles. After 100 years of cosmic ray research we are again at the beginning of a new era, and cosmic rays may contribute to solve the many open questions, like dark matter and dark energy, by providing energies well beyond those of earth-bound accelerators.

Can diffusive shock acceleration in supernova remnants account for high-energy galactic cosmic rays?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillas, A M

2005-01-01

Diffusive shock acceleration at the outer front of expanding supernova remnants has provided by far the most popular model for the origin of galactic cosmic rays, and has been the subject of intensive theoretical investigation. But several problems loomed at high energies-how to explain the smooth continuation of the cosmic-ray spectrum far beyond 10 14 eV, the very low level of TeV gamma-ray emission from several supernova remnants, and the very low anisotropy of cosmic rays (seeming to conflict with the short trapping times needed to convert a E -2 source spectrum into the observed E -2.7 spectrum of cosmic rays). However, recent work on the cosmic ray spectrum (especially at KASCADE) strongly indicates that about half of the flux does turn down rather sharply near 3 x 10 15 V rigidity, with a distinct tail extending to just beyond 10 17 V rigidity; whilst a plausible description (Bell and Lucek) of the level of self-generated magnetic fields at the shock fronts of young supernova remnants implies that many SNRs in varying environments might very well generate spectra extending smoothly to just this 'knee' position, and a portion of the exploding red supergiants could extend the spectrum approximately as needed. At low energies, recent progress in relating cosmic ray compositional details to modified shock structure also adds weight to the belief that the model is working on the right lines, converting energy into cosmic rays very efficiently where injection can occur. The low level of TeV gamma-ray flux from many young SNRs is a serious challenge, though it may relate to variations in particle injection efficiency with time. The clear detection of TeV gamma rays from SNRs has now just begun, and predictions of a characteristic curved particle spectrum give a target for new tests by TeV observations. However, the isotropy seriously challenges the assumed cosmic-ray trapping time and hence the shape of the spectrum of particles released from SNRs. There is

Propagation of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stanev, Todor [Bartol Research Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)], E-mail: stanev@bartol.udel.edu

2009-06-15

We briefly describe the energy loss processes of ultrahigh-energy protons, heavier nuclei and {gamma}-rays in interactions with the universal photon fields of the Universe. We then discuss the modification of the accelerated cosmic-ray energy spectrum in propagation by the energy loss processes and the charged cosmic-ray scattering in the extragalactic magnetic fields. The energy lost by the ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays goes into {gamma}-rays and neutrinos that carry additional information about the sources of highest energy particles. The new experimental results of the HiRes and the Auger collaborations are discussed in view of the predictions from propagation calculations.

Cosmic Rays Astrophysics: The Discipline, Its Scope, and Its Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Barghouty, A. F.

2009-01-01

This slide presentation gives an overview of the discipline surrounding cosmic ray astrophysics. It includes information on recent assertions surrounding cosmic rays, exposure levels, and a short history with specific information on the origin, acceleration, transport, and modulation of cosmic rays.

Relativistic transport theory for cosmic-rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, G.M.

1985-01-01

Various aspects of the transport of cosmic-rays in a relativistically moving magnetized plasma supporting a spectrum of hydromagnetic waves that scatter the cosmic-rays are presented. A local Lorentz frame moving with the waves or turbulence scattering the cosmic-rays is used to specify the individual particle momentum. The comoving frame is in general a noninertial frame in which the observer's volume element is expanding and shearing, geometric energy change terms appear in the cosmic-ray transport equation which consist of the relativistic generalization of the adiabatic deceleration term and a further term involving the acceleration vector of the scatterers. A relativistic version of the pitch angle evolution equation, including the effects of adiabatic focussing, pitch angle scattering, and energy changes is presented

Impact of Cosmic-Ray Transport on Galactic Winds

Science.gov (United States)

Farber, R.; Ruszkowski, M.; Yang, H.-Y. K.; Zweibel, E. G.

2018-04-01

The role of cosmic rays generated by supernovae and young stars has very recently begun to receive significant attention in studies of galaxy formation and evolution due to the realization that cosmic rays can efficiently accelerate galactic winds. Microscopic cosmic-ray transport processes are fundamental for determining the efficiency of cosmic-ray wind driving. Previous studies modeled cosmic-ray transport either via a constant diffusion coefficient or via streaming proportional to the Alfvén speed. However, in predominantly cold, neutral gas, cosmic rays can propagate faster than in the ionized medium, and the effective transport can be substantially larger; i.e., cosmic rays can decouple from the gas. We perform three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical simulations of patches of galactic disks including the effects of cosmic rays. Our simulations include the decoupling of cosmic rays in the cold, neutral interstellar medium. We find that, compared to the ordinary diffusive cosmic-ray transport case, accounting for the decoupling leads to significantly different wind properties, such as the gas density and temperature, significantly broader spatial distribution of cosmic rays, and higher wind speed. These results have implications for X-ray, γ-ray, and radio emission, and for the magnetization and pollution of the circumgalactic medium by cosmic rays.

14. European cosmic ray symposium. Symposium program and abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-08-01

The abstracts of the 14. European Cosmic Ray Symposium are presented. The papers cover a large variety of topics in cosmic ray physics, both from the theoretical and the experimental point of view. Sun physics, and the effects on the inner heliosphere, the composition, and the properties of the primary and secondary cosmic radiation, galactic acceleration and the results of accelerator physics relevant to cosmic radiation physics, and the description and the results of large detector systems are presented. 63 items are indexed for INIS database. (K.A.)

Standard Cosmic Ray Energetics and Light Element Production

CERN Document Server

Fields, B D; Cassé, M; Vangioni-Flam, E; Fields, Brian D.; Olive, Keith A.; Casse, Michel; Vangioni-Flam, Elisabeth

2001-01-01

The recent observations of Be and B in metal poor stars has led to a reassessment of the origin of the light elements in the early Galaxy. At low it is metallicity ([O/H] < -1.75), it is necessary to introduce a production mechanism which is independent of the interstellar metallicity (primary). At higher metallicities, existing data might indicate that secondary production is dominant. In this paper, we focus on the secondary process, related to the standard Galactic cosmic rays, and we examine the cosmic ray energy requirements for both present and past epochs. We find the power input to maintain the present-day Galactic cosmic ray flux is about 1.5e41 erg/s = 5e50 erg/century. This implies that, if supernovae are the sites of cosmic ray acceleration, the fraction of explosion energy going to accelerated particles is about 30%, a value which we obtain consistently both from considering the present cosmic ray flux and confinement and from the present 9Be and 6Li abundances. Using the abundances of 9Be (an...

CAN ULTRAHIGH-ENERGY COSMIC RAYS COME FROM GAMMA-RAY BURSTS? COSMIC RAYS BELOW THE ANKLE AND GALACTIC GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eichler, David; Pohl, Martin

2011-01-01

The maximum cosmic-ray energy achievable by acceleration by a relativistic blast wave is derived. It is shown that forward shocks from long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the interstellar medium accelerate protons to large enough energies, and have a sufficient energy budget, to produce the Galactic cosmic-ray component just below the ankle at 4 x 10 18 eV, as per an earlier suggestion. It is further argued that, were extragalactic long GRBs responsible for the component above the ankle as well, the occasional Galactic GRB within the solar circle would contribute more than the observational limits on the outward flux from the solar circle, unless an avoidance scenario, such as intermittency and/or beaming, allows the present-day local flux to be less than 10 -3 of the average. Difficulties with these avoidance scenarios are noted.

Acceleration of galactic cosmic rays in shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lagage, P.O.

1981-06-01

The old problem of the origin of cosmic rays has triggered off fresh interest owing to the discovery of a new model which enables a lot of energy to be transferred to a small number of particles on the one hand and the discovery of the coronal environment in which this transfer occurs, on the other. In this paper, interest is taken in the galactic cosmic rays and an endeavour is made to find out if the model can reveal the existence of cosmic rays over a wide energy range. The existence of an energy break, predicted by the model, was recognized fairly early but, in the literature, it varies from 30 GeV ro 10 6 GeV according to the authors. A study has been made of the two main causes of an energy break: the sphericity of the shock and the life time of the shock wave [fr

A Tale of cosmic rays narrated in γ rays by Fermi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tibaldo, Luigi

2014-01-01

Because cosmic rays are charged particles scrambled by magnetic fields, combining direct measurements with other observations is crucial to understanding their origin and propagation. As energetic particles traverse matter and electromagnetic fields, they leave marks in the form of neutral interaction products. Among those, γ rays trace interactions of nuclei that inelastically collide with interstellar gas, as well as of leptons that undergo Bremsstrahlung and inverse-Compton scattering. Data collected by the Fermi large area telescope (LAT) are therefore telling the story of cosmic rays along their journey from sources through their home galaxies. Supernova remnants emerge as a notable γ -ray source population, and older remnants interacting with interstellar matter finally show strong evidence of the presence of accelerated nuclei. Yet the maximum energy attained by shock accelerators is poorly constrained by observations. Cygnus X, a massive star-forming region established by the LAT as housing cosmic-ray sources, provides a test case to study the impact of wind-driven turbulence on the early propagation. Interstellar emission resulting from the large-scale propagation of cosmic rays in the Milky Way is revealed in unprecedented detail that challenges some of the simple assumptions used for the modeling. Moreover, the cosmic-ray induced γ -ray luminosities of galaxies-scale quasi-linearly with their massive-star formation rates: the overall normalization of that relation below the calorimetric limit suggests that for most systems, a substantial fraction of energy in cosmic rays escapes into the intergalactic medium. The nuclear production models and the distribution of target gas and radiation fields, not determined precisely enough yet, are key to exploiting the full potential of γ - ray data. Nevertheless, data being collected by Fermi and complementary multiwavelength/multi messenger observations are bringing ever closer to solving the cosmic-ray mystery

A Tale of cosmic rays narrated in γ rays by Fermi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tibaldo, Luigi, E-mail: ltibaldo@slac.stanford.edu [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park (United States)

2014-07-01

Because cosmic rays are charged particles scrambled by magnetic fields, combining direct measurements with other observations is crucial to understanding their origin and propagation. As energetic particles traverse matter and electromagnetic fields, they leave marks in the form of neutral interaction products. Among those, γ rays trace interactions of nuclei that inelastically collide with interstellar gas, as well as of leptons that undergo Bremsstrahlung and inverse-Compton scattering. Data collected by the Fermi large area telescope (LAT) are therefore telling the story of cosmic rays along their journey from sources through their home galaxies. Supernova remnants emerge as a notable γ -ray source population, and older remnants interacting with interstellar matter finally show strong evidence of the presence of accelerated nuclei. Yet the maximum energy attained by shock accelerators is poorly constrained by observations. Cygnus X, a massive star-forming region established by the LAT as housing cosmic-ray sources, provides a test case to study the impact of wind-driven turbulence on the early propagation. Interstellar emission resulting from the large-scale propagation of cosmic rays in the Milky Way is revealed in unprecedented detail that challenges some of the simple assumptions used for the modeling. Moreover, the cosmic-ray induced γ -ray luminosities of galaxies-scale quasi-linearly with their massive-star formation rates: the overall normalization of that relation below the calorimetric limit suggests that for most systems, a substantial fraction of energy in cosmic rays escapes into the intergalactic medium. The nuclear production models and the distribution of target gas and radiation fields, not determined precisely enough yet, are key to exploiting the full potential of γ - ray data. Nevertheless, data being collected by Fermi and complementary multiwavelength/multi messenger observations are bringing ever closer to solving the cosmic-ray mystery

High energy cosmic rays: sources and fluxes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stanev, Todor; Gaisser, Thomas K.; Tilav, Serap

2014-04-01

We discuss the production of a unique energy spectrum of the high energy cosmic rays detected with air showers by shifting the energy estimates of different detectors. After such a spectrum is generated we fit the spectrum with three or four populations of cosmic rays that might be accelerated at different cosmic ray sources. We also present the chemical composition that the fits of the spectrum generates and discuss some new data sets presented this summer at the ICRC in Rio de Janeiro that may require new global fits.

Cosmic rays and new accelerator experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muraki, Y.

The cross-section of sigma(anti-D,D) increases with energy. The heavy vector boson production cross-section deviates from the naive law 1/M 3 F(s/M 2 ) at very high energy. Comparison with dsigma/dP(T)/(had) and Drell-Yan cross-section dsigma/(dM/2)/(d-y) at very high energy will provide evidence about the existence of the colour quantum number. Centauro will soon be checked by a cosmic-ray experiment. The detail dynamics of such a hadron rich event will be extensively studied at anti-pp colliders. The investigation of the Feynman scaling at the anti-pp collider for hadrons brings a very important knowledge on astrophysics. The 2μ, 3μ, 4μ and multi muon bundle at the anti-pp colliders is extremely interesting. A cosmic ray muon bundle event suggests the successive decay of a anti-BB pair. The total cross-section for (anti-BB) is estimated as 500μb at 150 TeV

The cosmic-ray shock structure problem for relativistic shocks

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, G. M.

1985-01-01

The time asymptotic behaviour of a relativistic (parallel) shock wave significantly modified by the diffusive acceleration of cosmic-rays is investigated by means of relativistic hydrodynamical equations for both the cosmic-rays and thermal gas. The form of the shock structure equation and the dispersion relation for both long and short wavelength waves in the system are obtained. The dependence of the shock acceleration efficiency on the upstream fluid spped, long wavelength Mach number and the ratio N = P sub co/cP sub co+P sub go)(Psub co and P sub go are the upstream cosmic-ray and thermal gas pressures respectively) are studied.

THE ORIGIN OF COSMIC RAYS: WHAT CAN GLAST SAY?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bloom, Elliott

2000-10-10

Gamma rays in the band from 30 MeV to 300 GeV, used in combination with direct measurements and with data from radio and X-ray bands, provide a powerful tool for studying the origin of Galactic cosmic rays. Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) with its fine 10-20 arcmin angular resolution will be able to map the sites of acceleration of cosmic rays and their interactions with interstellar matter. It will provide information that is necessary to study the acceleration of energetic particles in supernova shocks, their transport in the interstellar medium and penetration into molecular clouds.

Cosmic rays and tests of fundamental principles

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez-Mestres, Luis

2011-03-01

It is now widely acknowledged that cosmic rays experiments can test possible new physics directly generated at the Planck scale or at some other fundamental scale. By studying particle properties at energies far beyond the reach of any man-made accelerator, they can yield unique checks of basic principles. A well-known example is provided by possible tests of special relativity at the highest cosmic-ray energies. But other essential ingredients of standard theories can in principle be tested: quantum mechanics, uncertainty principle, energy and momentum conservation, effective space-time dimensions, hamiltonian and lagrangian formalisms, postulates of cosmology, vacuum dynamics and particle propagation, quark and gluon confinement, elementariness of particles…Standard particle physics or string-like patterns may have a composite origin able to manifest itself through specific cosmic-ray signatures. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays, but also cosmic rays at lower energies, are probes of both "conventional" and new Physics. Status, prospects, new ideas, and open questions in the field are discussed.

Cosmic rays and tests of fundamental principles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Mestres, Luis

2011-01-01

It is now widely acknowledged that cosmic rays experiments can test possible new physics directly generated at the Planck scale or at some other fundamental scale. By studying particle properties at energies far beyond the reach of any man-made accelerator, they can yield unique checks of basic principles. A well-known example is provided by possible tests of special relativity at the highest cosmic-ray energies. But other essential ingredients of standard theories can in principle be tested: quantum mechanics, uncertainty principle, energy and momentum conservation, effective space-time dimensions, hamiltonian and lagrangian formalisms, postulates of cosmology, vacuum dynamics and particle propagation, quark and gluon confinement, elementariness of particles... Standard particle physics or string-like patterns may have a composite origin able to manifest itself through specific cosmic-ray signatures. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays, but also cosmic rays at lower energies, are probes of both 'conventional' and new Physics. Status, prospects, new ideas, and open questions in the field are discussed.

Cosmic Ray Origin: Lessons from Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays and the Galactic/Extragalactic Transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parizot, Etienne

2014-11-15

We examine the question of the origin of the Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs) in the light of the data available at the highest energy end of the spectrum. We argue that the data of the Pierre Auger Observatory and of the KASCADE-Grande experiment suggest that the transition between the Galactic and the extragalactic components takes place at the energy of the ankle in the all-particle cosmic-ray spectrum, and at an energy of the order of 10{sup 17} eV for protons. Such a high energy for Galactic protons appears difficult to reconcile with the general view that GCRs are accelerated by the standard diffusive shock acceleration process at the forward shock of individual supernova remnants (SNRs). We also review various difficulties of the standard SNR-GCR connection, related to the evolution of the light element abundances and to significant isotopic anomalies. We point out that most of the power injected by the supernovæ in the Galaxy is actually released inside superbubbles, which may thus play an important role in the origin of cosmic-rays, and could solve some persistent problems of the standard SNR-GCR scenario in a rather natural way.

Geometry of the non-thermal emission in SN 1006. Azimuthal variations of cosmic-ray acceleration

OpenAIRE

Rothenflug, R.; Ballet, J.; Dubner, Gloria Mabel; Giacani, Elsa Beatriz; Decourchelle, A.; Ferrando, P.

2017-01-01

SN 1006 is the prototype of shell supernova remnants, in which non-thermal synchrotron emission dominates the X-ray spectrum. The non-thermal emission is due to the cosmic-ray electrons accelerated behind the blast wave. The X-ray synchrotron emission is due to the highest energy electrons, and is thus a tracer of the maximum energy electrons may reach behind a shock. We have put together all XMM-Newton observations to build a full map of SN 1006. The very low brightness a...

Supernova Remnants as the Sources of Galactic Cosmic Rays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vink, J.

2013-01-01

The origin of cosmic rays holds still manymysteries 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 that supernova remnants can indeed efficiently accelerate

Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass

CERN Multimedia

Baylon cardiel, J L; Wallace, K C; Anderson, T B; Copley, M

The cosmic-ray energetics and mass (CREAM) investigation is designed to measure cosmic-ray composition to the supernova energy scale of 10$^{15}$ eV in a series of ultra long duration balloon (ULDB) flights. The first flight is planned to be launched from Antarctica in December 2004. The goal is to observe cosmic-ray spectral features and/or abundance changes that might signify a limit to supernova acceleration. The particle ($\\{Z}$) measurements will be made with a timing-based charge detector and a pixelated silicon charge detector to minimize the effect of backscatter from the calorimeter. The particle energy measurements will be made with a transition radiation detector (TRD) for $\\{Z}$ > 3 and a sampling tungsten/scintillator calorimeter for $\\{Z}$ $\\geq$1 particles, allowing inflight cross calibration of the two detectors. The status of the payload construction and flight preparation are reported in this paper.

Acceleration and propagation of cosmic radiation. Production, oscillation and detection of neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lagage, P.-O.

1987-06-01

In recent years, the old problem of cosmic-ray acceleration and propagation has become alive again, with the discovery of the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism, and with the first measurements of the cosmic-ray antiproton flux, which appears to be higher than expected. I have shown that the new acceleration mechanism was slow and I have calculated the maximum energy that can be reached by particles accelerated in various astrophysical sites. I have also studied in detail a cosmic-ray propagation model which takes into account the antiproton measurements. Neutrino astronomy is a field much more recent and in rapid expansion, thanks to a convergence of interests between astrophysicists and elementary particle physicists. Several large neutrino detectors already exist; really huge ones are in project. I have studied the possible impact of the high energy (> 1 TeV) neutrino astronomy on models of cosmic-ray sources such as Cygnus X3. Comparing the low energy (∼ 10 MeV) cosmic-ray antineutrinos with other sources of neutrinos and antineutrinos (sun, supernova, earth...), I have pointed out that the antineutrino background resulting from all the nuclear power-stations of the planet was sizeable. This background is a nuisance for some astrophysical applications but could be useful for studies on vacuum or matter neutrino oscillations (MSW effect). I have also examined the MSW effect in another context: the travel through the earth of neutrinos from the supernova explosion SN1987a [fr

Synthesis of ideas on cosmic ray origin and propagation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolfendale, A.W.

1986-01-01

An attempt is made, based largely on ideas reported at this Advanced Studies Institute, to synthesise ideas which have been put forward on cosmic ray origin and propagation. The conclusions drawn are as follows. The bulk of cosmic rays detected at earth appear to be of Galactic origin, many probably having come from supernova remnants, at least at the lowest energies. Only above 10/sup 19/ eV does an extragalactic origin appear likely and here the VIRGO cluster at the centre of our Supercluster is a likely source. Although extragalactic cosmic rays are not present to a large extent their energy density could well be significant and the case is made for its being about 10/sup -4/ eV cm/sup -3/. Concerning the controversy about continuous or ''quick'' particle acceleration, it appears necessary to separate origin and acceleration. The interesting model put forward by Schlickeiser involving what might be called pseudo-continuous acceleration appears to require that the bulk of the particle acceleration occurs in a very large Galactic halo, the secondaries being produced only in the gas disk. Problems are likely, however, with the expected fluxes of X-rays and radio synchrotron radiation

Background to Dark Matter Searches from Galactic Cosmic Rays

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2015-01-01

Just as searches for BSM physics at the LHC necessitate a careful audit of SM backgrounds, the search for signals of dark matter in cosmic rays must contend with production of secondaries like e+ and pbar through cosmic ray propagation in the Galaxy. The theoretical framework for calculating this has however not been directly calibrated at the high energies being explored by AMS-02 and there may be surprises in store. In particular a nearby source where cosmic rays are being accelerated stochastically can naturally generate a e+ fraction rising with energy as is observed. The test of this is the expected correlated rise in other secondary/primary ratios e.g. B/C and pbar/p. Such a nearby cosmic accelerator should also be detectable through the concomitant flux of neutrinos and its discovery would be (nearly!) as exciting as that of dark matter.

Anomalous isotopic composition of cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woosley, S.E.; Weaver, T.A.

1980-01-01

Recent measurements of nonsolar isotopic patterns for the elements neon and (perhaps) magnesium in cosmic rays are interpreted within current models of stellar nucleosynthesis. One possible explanation is that the stars currently responsible for cosmic-ray synthesis in the Galaxy are typically super-metal-rich by a factor of two to three. Other possibilities include the selective acceleration of certain zones or masses of supernovas or the enhancement of 22 Ne in the interstellar medium by mass loss from red giant stars and planetary nebulas. Measurements of critical isotopic ratios are suggested to aid in distinguishing among the various possibilities. Some of these explanations place significant constraints on the fraction of cosmic ray nuclei that must be fresh supernova debris and the masses of the supernovas involved. 1 figure, 3 tables

Propagation of cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Putze, Antje

2006-06-01

Cosmic rays are composed of charged particles, which arrive after a long travel through the Galaxy on Earth. Supernova explosions are considered to be galactic sources, which accelerate these particles up to energies around 10 18 eV. Beyond this energy, one supposes that the extragalactic sources, like active galaxy nuclei (AGN), gamma ray bursts or pulsars, are the origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays. The spectral index of the elemental energy distributions of cosmic rays reflects the dynamic of its propagation, particularly the conjugation of the effects connected to the cosmic ray source spectrum and those connected to its propagation (acceleration, absorption and escape). The evolution of the spectral index with the cosmic-ray particle energy constitutes a sensitive test of the components, which determine this evolution. The precise index measurement of individual elemental spectra of the cosmic rays by AMS up to TeV and by the experiment CREAM beyond it, from TeV to PeV, will permit to proceed in this problematic. One of the difficulties on this measurement is to take well into account the systematic errors. During the data analysis we have to take into account in particular the interaction (diffusion and fragmentation) of the ions while their travel through the Earth's atmosphere. The study of the interaction and the fragmentation of these ions in the atmosphere is hence indispensable and described in this work. The study is based on a matrix calculation, which had been successfully implemented and tested and which has permitted to analyse the effects, caused by the experimental uncertainties on the cross sections, on the spectral index measurement. (author)

ENTROPY AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF GALAXY CLUSTERS AS IMPLICATIONS FOR COSMOLOGICAL COSMIC-RAY ACCELERATION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, Yutaka; Ohira, Yutaka; Yamazaki, Ryo

2013-01-01

Recently, gas entropy at the outskirts of galaxy clusters has attracted much attention. We propose that the entropy profiles could be used to study cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration around the clusters. If the CRs are effectively accelerated at the formation of clusters, the kinetic energy of infalling gas is consumed by the acceleration and the gas entropy should decrease. As a result, the entropy profiles become flat at the outskirts. If the acceleration is not efficient, the entropy should continue to increase outward. By comparing model predictions with X-ray observations with Suzaku, which show flat entropy profiles, we find that the CRs have carried ∼< 7% of the kinetic energy of the gas away from the clusters. Moreover, the CR pressure at the outskirts can be ∼< 40% of the total pressure. On the other hand, if the entropy profiles are not flat at the outskirts, as indicated by combined Plank and ROSAT observations, the carried energy and the CR pressure should be much smaller than the above estimations.

Insights into the Galactic Cosmic-ray Source from the TIGER Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Link, Jason T.; Barbier, L. M.; Binns, W. R.; Christian, E. R.; Cummings, J. R.; Geier, S.; Israel, M. H.; Lodders, K.; Mewaldt,R. A.; Mitchell, J. W.;

Electric field of thunderclouds and cosmic rays: evidence for acceleration of particles (runaway electrons)

CERN Document Server

Khaerdinov, N S; Petkov, V B; 12th International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity

2004-01-01

We present the data on correlations of the intensity of the soft component of cosmic rays with the local electric field of the near-earth atmosphere during thunderstorm periods at the Baksan Valley (North Caucasus, 1700 m a. s. l.). The large-area array for studying the extensive air showers of cosmic rays is used as a particle detector. An electric field meter of the "electric mill" type (rain-protected) is mounted on the roof of the building in the center of this array. The data were obtained in the summer seasons of 2000-2002. We observe strong enhancements of the soft component intensity before some lightning strokes. At the same time, the analysis of the regression curve "intensity versus field" discovers a bump at the field sign that is opposite to the field sign corresponding to acceleration of electrons. It is interpreted as a signature of runaway electrons from the region of the strong field (with opposite sign) overhead.

Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays: Facts, Myths, and Legends

CERN Document Server

Anchordoqui, Luis Alfredo

2013-06-27

This is a written version of a series of lectures aimed at graduate students in astrophysics/particle theory/particle experiment. In the first part, we explain the important progress made in recent years towards understanding the experimental data on cosmic rays with energies > 10^8 GeV. We begin with a brief survey of the available data, including a description of the energy spectrum, mass composition, and arrival directions. At this point we also give a short overview of experimental techniques. After that, we introduce the fundamentals of acceleration and propagation in order to discuss the conjectured nearby cosmic ray sources, and emphasize some of the prospects for a new (multi-particle) astronomy. Next, we survey the state of the art regarding the ultrahigh energy cosmic neutrinos which should be produced in association with the observed cosmic rays. In the second part, we summarize the phenomenology of cosmic ray air showers. We explain the hadronic interaction models used to extrapolate results from ...

Pulsar Wind Nebulae and Cosmic Rays: A Bedtime Story

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weinstein, A.

2014-11-15

The role pulsar wind nebulae play in producing our locally observed cosmic ray spectrum remains murky, yet intriguing. Pulsar wind nebulae are born and evolve in conjunction with SNRs, which are favored sites of Galactic cosmic ray acceleration. As a result they frequently complicate interpretation of the gamma-ray emission seen from SNRs. However, pulsar wind nebulae may also contribute directly to the local cosmic ray spectrum, particularly the leptonic component. This paper reviews the current thinking on pulsar wind nebulae and their connection to cosmic ray production from an observational perspective. It also considers how both future technologies and new ways of analyzing existing data can help us to better address the relevant theoretical questions. A number of key points will be illustrated with recent results from the VHE (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray observatory VERITAS.

Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and neutrinos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stanev, Todor [Bartol Research Foundation, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)], E-mail: stanev@bartol.udel.edu

2008-04-01

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 cosmogenic neutrinos, generated in propagation by UHECR, also reflect the acceleration of these particles, the maximum acceleration energy, and the cosmological evolution of their sources.

Cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tkachev, I.I.

2014-01-01

In this talk I will review results of cosmic ray observations at the highest energies. This year the new results on energy spectra, composition and the study of arrival directions of cosmic ray primaries came from the Telescope Array collaboration. I present these results in comparison with measurements done by other recent experiments and discuss their implications for the search of cosmic ray sources. Some related results in gamma-ray astronomy and selected recent advances in theory are also covered. (author)

Gamma radiation associated to stellar formation in the galaxy (cosmic ray astronomy)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casse, Michel.

1980-05-01

The gamma ray sky revealed by the COS-B satellite is very peculiar: a few 'gamma ray stars' lying along the galactic plane emerge from a bright milky way. A possible interpretation of this sky is to invoke the existence of regions in which stars, cosmic rays and interstellar matter are very concentrated. A genetic link is established between clouds, stars and cosmic rays: the partial fragmentation of a cloud give birth to stars, the most massive stars accelerate cosmic rays through their supersonic stellar winds, cosmic ray interact in turn with the cloud material to copiously produce high energy gamma rays: a gamma ray source is born

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2010-01-01

Full text: The 31 st International Cosmic Ray Conference (31.ICRC) was held in Lodz on 7-15 July 2009. The Conference was organized by the University of Lodz (Department of High Energy Astrophysics and Department of Astrophysics) and IPJ (Department of Cosmic Ray Physics). ICRCs are held every two years and are the largest forums to present and discuss the current status of Cosmic Ray studies. The Conference we co-organized gathered about 750 scientists (including about 50 from Poland). This was a remarkable event. The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the field of high energy Cosmic Rays. Cosmic Rays are energetic panicles from outside the Solar System. Most studies of Cosmic Rays address fundamental problems: - the nature of the physical and astrophysical processes responsible for the high energies of the particles. - experimental search for sources of Cosmic Rays, - studies of the astrophysical conditions at the acceleration sites, - properties of particle interactions at very high energies. Presentation of Cosmic Ray registration to high school students has become a popular way to introduce panicle physics detectors and elementary particle detection techniques to young people, in Lodz and Poznan we organize workshops on particle physics for high school students. This is part of the European activity: EPPOG Masterclass - Hands on CERN. Energetic Cosmic Ray particles produce cascades of panicles in the atmosphere, called Extensive Air Showers (EAS). Registering EASs and their properties is the main means of studying experimentally high energy Cosmic Rays: · The satellite experiment JEM-EUSO will observe EASs from the International Space Station. The main target is to find Cosmic Ray Sources for the highest energy Cosmic Rays. JEM-EUSO will collect a large number of events since it will observe a large area of the atmosphere. We are participating in the preparation of this mission. · The KASCADE-Grande addresses

Th/U/Pu/Cm dating of galactic cosmic rays with the extremely heavy cosmic ray composition observer

Science.gov (United States)

Westphal, Andrew J.; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Tarlé, Gregory

The principal goal of ECCO, the Extremely-heavy Cosmic-ray Composition Observer, is the measurement of the age of heavy galactic cosmic-ray nuclei using the extremely rare actinides (Th, U, Pu, Cm) as clocks. ECCO is one of two cosmic-ray instruments comprising the Heavy Nuclei Explorer (HNX), which was recently selected as one of several missions for Phase A study under NASA's Small class Explorer (SMEX) program. ECCO is based on the flight heritage of Trek, an array of barium-phosphate glass tracketch detectors deployed on the Russian space station Mir from 1991-1995. Using Trek, we measured the abundances of elements with Z > 70 in the galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). Trek consisted of a 1 m 2 array of stacks of individually polished thin BP-1 glass detectors. ECCO will be a much larger instrument, but will achieve both excellent resolution and low cost through use of a novel detector configuration. Here we report the results of recent accelerator tests of the ECCO detectors that verify detector performance. We also show the expected charge and energy resolution of ECCO as a function of energy.

Cosmic Rays in the Heliosphere: Requirements for Future Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Mewaldt, R. A.

2013-06-01

Since the publication of Cosmic Rays in the Heliosphere in 1998 there has been great progress in understanding how and why cosmic rays vary in space and time. This paper discusses measurements that are needed to continue advances in relating cosmic ray variations to changes in solar and interplanetary activity and variations in the local interstellar environment. Cosmic ray acceleration and transport is an important discipline in space physics and astrophysics, but it also plays a critical role in defining the radiation environment for humans and hardware in space, and is critical to efforts to unravel the history of solar activity. Cosmic rays are measured directly by balloon-borne and space instruments, and indirectly by ground-based neutron, muon and neutrino detectors, and by measurements of cosmogenic isotopes in ice cores, tree-rings, sediments, and meteorites. The topics covered here include: what we can learn from the deep 2008-2009 solar minimum, when cosmic rays reached the highest intensities of the space era; the implications of 10Be and 14C isotope archives for past and future solar activity; the effects of variations in the size of the heliosphere; opportunities provided by the Voyagers for discovering the origin of anomalous cosmic rays and measuring cosmic-ray spectra in interstellar space; and future space missions that can continue the exciting exploration of the heliosphere that has occurred over the past 50 years.

On the Origin of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, T K; Colgate, S; Li, H; Bulmer, R H; Pino, J

2011-03-08

We show that accretion disks around Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) could account for the enormous power in observed ultra high energy cosmic rays {approx}10{sup 20} eV (UHEs). In our model, cosmic rays are produced by quasi-steady acceleration of ions in magnetic structures previously proposed to explain jets around Active Galactic Nuclei with supermassive black holes. Steady acceleration requires that an AGN accretion disk act as a dynamo, which we show to follow from a modified Standard Model in which the magnetic torque of the dynamo replaces viscosity as the dominant mechanism accounting for angular momentum conservation during accretion. A black hole of mass M{sub BH} produces a steady dynamo voltage V {proportional_to} {radical}M{sub BH} giving V {approx} 10{sup 20} volts for M{sub BH} {approx} 10{sup 8} solar masses. The voltage V reappears as an inductive electric field at the advancing nose of a dynamo-driven jet, where plasma instability inherent in collisionless runaway acceleration allows ions to be steadily accelerated to energies {approx} V, finally ejected as cosmic rays. Transient events can produce much higher energies. The predicted disk radiation is similar to the Standard Model. Unique predictions concern the remarkable collimation of jets and emissions from the jet/radiolobe structure. Given MBH and the accretion rate, the model makes 7 predictions roughly consistent with data: (1) the jet length; (2) the jet radius; (3) the steady-state cosmic ray energy spectrum; (4) the maximum energy in this spectrum; (5) the UHE cosmic ray intensity on Earth; (6) electron synchrotron wavelengths; and (7) the power in synchrotron radiation. These qualitative successes motivate new computer simulations, experiments and data analysis to provide a quantitative verification of the model.

The CCRT: An inexpensive cosmic ray muon detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harpell, E.; Langeveld, W.; McShurley, D.; Shapiro, S.; Venuti, J.

1995-01-01

In this article the authors describe an inexpensive cosmic ray counter useful for physics demonstrations and experiments. Although many university departments use cosmic ray detectors as part of their upper division laboratory courses, these are often large and expensive devices requiring specialized equipment not usually accessible in high school and college programs. This detector is very compact and can be constructed for about $350 using commercially available materials and small scintillator panels that may be available (in limited supply) from Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and perhaps other accelerator laboratories. In the following, the authors provide detailed instructions for the construction of the detector as well as suggestions for its use in the classroom and laboratory

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics; Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2004-01-01

Full text: Cosmic Rays are energetic particles from outside the Solar System. The energy spectrum (power law energy dependence) suggests a non-thermal origin of these particles. Most of the studies of Cosmic Rays address fundamental problems such as: - the nature of the physical and astrophysical processes responsible for the high energies of particles (up to about 10 20 eV/particle), - estimation of the astrophysical conditions at the acceleration sites and/or a search for sources of Cosmic Rays, - properties of high energy particle interactions at very high energies (nuclear interactions at energies exceeding energies available in the laboratories). Some Cosmic Ray studies might have practical (commercial) implications, e.g. - ''cosmic weather'' forecast - predictions of geomagnetic disturbances related to Solar activity changes (due to large Solar Flares / events of Coronal Mass Ejections); these are important for large electricity networks, gas pipes, radio-wave connections, space missions and satellite experiments. The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the high energy Cosmic Ray field. Energetic Cosmic Ray particles produce cascades of particles in the atmosphere, called Extensive Air Showers (EAS). Registering EAS and their properties is the main theme of experimental studies of very high energy Cosmic Rays. In the Lodz Department we run an Extensive Air Shower array where EAS are registered. We concentrate our experimental research on the explanation of particle detection delayed by hundreds of microseconds with respect to the main EAS signals. In the underground (I5 meters) laboratory we continuously register muon (5 GeV energy threshold) flux with the multidirectional telescope. We have observed several disturbances (Forbush Decreases) in muon counting rates. The interpretation of these events for ''cosmic weather'' and for Cosmic Ray transport models in the interplanetary plasma are on going in collaboration with

High-Energy Cosmic Ray Self-Confinement Close to Extra-Galactic Sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Blasi, Pasquale; Amato, Elena; D'Angelo, Marta

2015-09-18

The ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays observed on the Earth are most likely accelerated in extra-Galactic sources. For the typical luminosities invoked for such sources, the electric current associated to the flux of cosmic rays that leave them is large. The associated plasma instabilities create magnetic fluctuations that can efficiently scatter particles. We argue that this phenomenon forces cosmic rays to be self-confined in the source proximity for energies Esources for energies Esource luminosity in units of 10^{44} erg/s.

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2008-01-01

Full text: The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the high energy Cosmic Ray field. Cosmic Rays are energetic particles from outside the Solar System. Most of the studies of Cosmic Rays address fundamental problems: · the nature of the physical and astrophysical processes responsible for high energies of particles · an estimation of the astrophysical conditions at the acceleration sites and/or search for sources of Cosmic Rays, · properties of high energy particle interactions at very high energies. Some Cosmic Ray studies might have practical (commercial) implications, e.g. · '' cosmic weather '' forecast - predictions of geomagnetic disturbances related to Solar activity changes (due to large Solar Flares / events of Coronal Mass Ejection); these are important for large electricity networks, gas pipes, radio-wave connections, space missions and satellite experiments. Presentation of Cosmic Ray registration to high school students becomes a popular way to introduce particle physics detectors and elementary particle detection techniques to young people. We organize in Lodz several workshops on particle physics for high school students. This is a part of European activity: EPPOG's Masterclass - Hands on CERN. Energetic Cosmic Ray particles produce cascades of particles in the atmosphere, called Extensive Air Showers (EAS). Registering EAS and their properties is the main way of experimental studies of very high energy Cosmic Rays. In Lodz Department we run Extensive Air Shower array where EAS are continuously being registered. We concentrate on the studies of detection of neutrons correlated with EAS and interpretation of this phenomenon. In 2004 we started realisation of the Roland Maze Project, the network of EAS detectors placed on the roofs of high schools in Lodz. We received funds from the City of Lodz budget to make a pilot project and equip 10 high schools, each with four 1m 2 detectors and GPS. The network is

Propagation of cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Putze, Antje [LPSC-CNRS-IN2P3, 53, avenue des Martyrs, 38021 Grenoble cedex (France)

2006-06-15

Cosmic rays are composed of charged particles, which arrive after a long travel through the Galaxy on Earth. Supernova explosions are considered to be galactic sources, which accelerate these particles up to energies around 10{sup 18} eV. Beyond this energy, one supposes that the extragalactic sources, like active galaxy nuclei (AGN), gamma ray bursts or pulsars, are the origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays. The spectral index of the elemental energy distributions of cosmic rays reflects the dynamic of its propagation, particularly the conjugation of the effects connected to the cosmic ray source spectrum and those connected to its propagation (acceleration, absorption and escape). The evolution of the spectral index with the cosmic-ray particle energy constitutes a sensitive test of the components, which determine this evolution. The precise index measurement of individual elemental spectra of the cosmic rays by AMS up to TeV and by the experiment CREAM beyond it, from TeV to PeV, will permit to proceed in this problematic. One of the difficulties on this measurement is to take well into account the systematic errors. During the data analysis we have to take into account in particular the interaction (diffusion and fragmentation) of the ions while their travel through the Earth's atmosphere. The study of the interaction and the fragmentation of these ions in the atmosphere is hence indispensable and described in this work. The study is based on a matrix calculation, which had been successfully implemented and tested and which has permitted to analyse the effects, caused by the experimental uncertainties on the cross sections, on the spectral index measurement. (author)

Cosmic rays and stochastic magnetic reconnection in the heliotail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Desiati

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Galactic cosmic rays are believed to be generated by diffusive shock acceleration processes in Supernova Remnants, and the arrival direction is likely determined by the distribution of their sources throughout the Galaxy, in particular by the nearest and youngest ones. Transport to Earth through the interstellar medium is expected to affect the cosmic ray properties as well. However, the observed anisotropy of TeV cosmic rays and its energy dependence cannot be explained with diffusion models of particle propagation in the Galaxy. Within a distance of a few parsec, diffusion regime is not valid and particles with energy below about 100 TeV must be influenced by the heliosphere and its elongated tail. The observation of a highly significant localized excess region of cosmic rays from the apparent direction of the downstream interstellar flow at 1–10 TeV energies might provide the first experimental evidence that the heliotail can affect the transport of energetic particles. In particular, TeV cosmic rays propagating through the heliotail interact with the 100–300 AU wide magnetic field polarity domains generated by the 11 yr cycles. Since the strength of non-linear convective processes is expected to be larger than viscous damping, the plasma in the heliotail is turbulent. Where magnetic field domains converge on each other due to solar wind gradient, stochastic magnetic reconnection likely occurs. Such processes may be efficient enough to re-accelerate a fraction of TeV particles as long as scattering processes are not strong. Therefore, the fractional excess of TeV cosmic rays from the narrow region toward the heliotail direction traces sightlines with the lowest smearing scattering effects, that can also explain the observation of a harder than average energy spectrum.

Ashra Neutrino Telescope Array (NTA): Combined Imaging Observation of Astroparticles — For Clear Identification of Cosmic Accelerators and Fundamental Physics Using Cosmic Beams —

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Makoto; Kifune, Tadashi

In VHEPA (very high energy particle astronomy) 2014 workshop, focused on the next generation explorers for the origin of cosmic rays, held in Kashiwa, Japan, reviewing and discussions were presented on the status of the observation of GeV-TeV photons, TeV-PeV neutrinos, EeV-ZeV hadrons, test of interaction models with Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and theoretical aspects of astrophysics. The acceleration sites of hadrons, i.e., sources of PeV-EeV cosmic rays, should exist in the universe within the GZK-horizon even in the remotest case. We also affirmed that the hadron acceleration mechanism correlates with cosmic ray composition so that it is important to investigate the acceleration mechanism in relevance to the composition survey at PeV-EeV energy. We regard that LHC and astrophysics theories are ready to be used to probe into hadron acceleration mechanism in the universe. Recently, IceCube has reported detection of three events of neutrinos with energies around 1 PeV and additional events at lower energies, which significantly deviate from the expected level of background events. It is necessary to observe GeV-TeV photon, EeV-ZeV hadron and TeV-PeV neutrino all together, in order to understand hadronic interactions of cosmic rays in the PeV-EeV energy region. It is required to make a step further toward exploring the PeV-EeV universe with high accuracy and high statistics observations for both neutrinos and gamma rays simultaneously, by using the instrument such as Ashra Neutrino Telescope Array (NTA). Wide and fine survey of gamma-rays and neutrinos with simultaneously detecting Cherenkov and fluorescence light with NTA will guide us to a new intriguing stage of recognizing astronomical objects and non-thermal phenomena in ultra-high energy region, in addition, new aspect about the fundamental concepts of physics beyond our presently limited understanding; the longstanding problem of cosmic ray origin, the radiation mechanism of gamma-rays, neutrino and

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J

2005-01-01

Full text: The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the high energy Cosmic Ray field. Cosmic Rays are energetic particles from outside the Solar System. The energy spectrum (power law energy dependence) suggests a non-thermal origin of these particles. Most studies of Cosmic Rays address fundamental problems: - the nature of the physical and astrophysical processes responsible for high energies of particles (up to about 10 20 eV/particle), - estimation of the astrophysical conditions at the acceleration sites and/or search for sources of Cosmic Rays, - properties of high energy particle interactions at very high energies (nuclear interactions at energies exceeding energy available in laboratories). - Some Cosmic Ray studies might have practical (commercial) implications, e.g. - ''cosmic weather'' forecast - predictions of geomagnetic disturbances related to Solar activity changes (due to large Solar Flares / events of Coronal Mass Ejection); these are important for large electricity networks, gas pipes, radio-wave connections, space missions and satellite experiments. Presentation of Cosmic Ray registration to high school students is a popular way to introduce particle physics detectors and elementary particle detection techniques to young people. Energetic Cosmic Ray particles produce cascades of particles in the atmosphere, called Extensive Air Showers (EAS). Registering the EAS and their properties is the main way of experimental studies of very high energy Cosmic Rays. In our Lodz Department we run an Extensive Air Shower array where EAS are continuously being registered. We concentrate on the studies of detection of neutrons correlated with EAS and interpretation of this phenomenon. In 2004 we started realisation of the Roland Maze Project, the network of EAS detectors placed on the roofs of high schools in Lodz. We received funds from the City of Lodz's budget to make a pilot project and equip 10 high schools, each with

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2009-01-01

Full text: The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the high-energy Cosmic Ray field. Cosmic Rays are energetic particles from outside the Solar System. Most of the studies of Cosmic Rays address fundamental problems: - the nature of the physical and astrophysical processes responsible for the high energies of the particles - an estimation of the astrophysical conditions at the acceleration sites and/or the search for sources of Cosmic Rays, - properties of high-energy particle interactions at very high energies. Some Cosmic Ray studies might have practical (commercial) implications, e.g. - '' cosmic weather '' forecasting - predictions of geomagnetic disturbances related to Solar activity changes (due to large Solar Flares/Coronal Mass Ejection events); these are important for large electricity networks, gas pipelines, radio-wave connections, space missions and satellite experiments. Presentation of Cosmic Ray registration to high school students has become a popular way to introduce particle physics detectors and elementary particle detection techniques to young people. We organize in Lodz and Poznan workshops on particle physics for high school students. This is a part of the European activity: EPPOG's Masterclass - Hands on CERN. Energetic Cosmic Ray particles produce cascades of particles in the atmosphere, called Extensive Air Showers (EAS). Registering EAS and their properties is the main way of experimentally study's very high energy Cosmic Rays. Locally in Lodz we concentrate on methodological studies of the detection of neutrons correlated with EAS and the interpretation of this phenomenon. We have also performed two series of neutron background measurements in the deep underground Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy (within the ILIAS-TA Project). In 2004, we began the Roland Maze Project, a network of EAS detectors placed on the roofs of high schools in Lodz. The pilot project is to equip 10 high schools, each with four 1m

Identifying Galactic Cosmic Ray Origins With Super-TIGER

Science.gov (United States)

deNolfo, Georgia; Binns, W. R.; Israel, M. H.; Christian, E. R.; Mitchell, J. W.; Hams, T.; Link, J. T.; Sasaki, M.; Labrador, A. W.; Mewaldt, R. A.;

Atomic properties of the elements and cosmic ray composition at the source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casse, M.; Goret, P.; Cesarsky, C.J.

1975-01-01

Possible correlations between the abundances of cosmic rays at the source and the solar system abundances are discussed. Cosmic ray source abundances could be explained if the particles are accelerated to injection energies in a dilute, moderately hot plasma, from which they escape in a rigidity dependant fashion [fr

The Energetic Trans-Iron Cosmic-ray Experiment (ENTICE)

Science.gov (United States)

Binns, W. R.; Adams. J. H.; Barghouty, A. F.; Christian, E. R.; Cummings, A. C.; Hams, T.; Israel, M. H.; Labrador, A. W.; Leske, R. A.; Link, J. T.;

Measurements at LHC and their relevance for cosmic ray physics

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2016-01-01

Many LHC measurements are already used to improve hadronic interaction models used in cosmic ray analyses. This already had a positive effect on the model dependence of crucial data analyses. Some of the data and the model tuning is reviewed. However, the LHC still has a lot more potential to provide crucial information. Since the start of Run2 the highest accelerator beam energies are reached and no further increase can be expected for a long time. First data of Run2 are published and the fundamental performance of cosmic ray hadronic interaction models can be scrutinized. The relevance of LHC data in general for cosmic ray data analyses is demonstrated.

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2007-01-01

The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the high energy Cosmic Ray field. Cosmic Rays are energetic particles from outside the Solar System. The energy spectrum (power law energy dependence) suggests non-thermal origin of these particles. Most of the studies of Cosmic Rays address fundamental problems: · the nature of the physical and astrophysical processes responsible for high energies of particles (up to about 1020 eV/particle), · an estimation of the astrophysical conditions at the acceleration sites and/or search for sources of Cosmic Rays, · properties of high energy particle interactions at very high energies (nuclear interactions at energies exceeding energy available in the laboratories). Some Cosmic Ray studies might have practical (commercial) implications, e.g.: · '' cosmic weather '' forecast - predictions of geomagnetic disturbances related to Solar activity changes (due to large Solar Flares / events of Coronal Mass Ejection); these are important for large electricity networks, gas pipes, radio-wave connections, space missions and satellite experiments. Presentation of Cosmic Ray registration to high school students becomes a popular way to introduce particle physics detectors and elementary particle detection techniques to young people. We organize in Lodz several workshops on particle physics for high school students. This is a part of European activity: Masterclass - Hands on CERN. Energetic Cosmic Ray particles produce cascades of particles in the atmosphere, called Extensive Air Showers (EAS). Registering EAS and their properties is the main way of experimental studies of very high energy Cosmic Rays. In Lodz Department we run Extensive Air Shower array where EAS are continuously being registered. We concentrate on the studies of detection of neutrons correlated with EAS and interpretation of this phenomenon. Back in 2004 we started realisation of the Roland Maze Project, the network of EAS detectors

Solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays: techniques and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perko, J.S.

1984-01-01

This thesis covers four topics in the theory of interplanetary cosmic-ray propagation: the first part involves the time-dependent, spherically-symmetric, solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays. A numerical technique was introduced for the solution of this problem. A model for the solar cycle variation in cosmic-ray intensity illustrated this method using enhanced particle scattering regions. The second section contains an attempt to explain recent observations which show that cosmic-ray electrons are returning to higher intensities, characteristic of solar minimum, faster than cosmic-ray protons of about the same energy, the reverse of the previous eleven-year cycle. The third section involves the solar modulation of galactic antiprotons. Using a steady-state, spherically-symmetric, numerical modulation code, a solution that reasonably fits the observed 1980 galactic proton spectrum at 1 AU implied that the modulation used for the data interpretation has been significantly underestimated. The final section contains a spherically-symmetric steady-state calculation of the effects of a strong termination shock in the heliosphere. In the end, high-energy particles cooling down in the upstream solar wind overwhelmed any accelerated low-energy particles

Towards a Unified Source-Propagation Model of Cosmic Rays

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, M.; Molla, M.

2010-07-01

It is well known that the cosmic ray energy spectrum is multifractal with the analysis of cosmic ray fluxes as a function of energy revealing a first “knee” slightly below 1016 eV, a second knee slightly below 1018 eV and an “ankle” close to 1019 eV. The behaviour of the highest energy cosmic rays around and above the ankle is still a mystery and precludes the development of a unified source-propagation model of cosmic rays from their source origin to Earth. A variety of acceleration and propagation mechanisms have been proposed to explain different parts of the spectrum the most famous of course being Fermi acceleration in magnetised turbulent plasmas (Fermi 1949). Many others have been proposd for energies at and below the first knee (Peters & Cimento (1961); Lagage & Cesarsky (1983); Drury et al. (1984); Wdowczyk & Wolfendale (1984); Ptuskin et al. (1993); Dova et al. (0000); Horandel et al. (2002); Axford (1991)) as well as at higher energies between the first knee and the ankle (Nagano & Watson (2000); Bhattacharjee & Sigl (2000); Malkov & Drury (2001)). The recent fit of most of the cosmic ray spectrum up to the ankle using non-extensive statistical mechanics (NESM) (Tsallis et al. (2003)) provides what may be the strongest evidence for a source-propagation system deviating significantly from Boltmann statistics. As Tsallis has shown (Tsallis et al. (2003)), the knees appear as crossovers between two fractal-like thermal regimes. In this work, we have developed a generalisation of the second order NESM model (Tsallis et al. (2003)) to higher orders and we have fit the complete spectrum including the ankle with third order NESM. We find that, towards the GDZ limit, a new mechanism comes into play. Surprisingly it also presents as a modulation akin to that in our own local neighbourhood of cosmic rays emitted by the sun. We propose that this is due to modulation at the source and is possibly due to processes in the shell of the originating supernova. We

The puzzle of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays

CERN Document Server

Tkachev, I I

2003-01-01

In early years the cosmic ray studies were ahead of accelerator research, starting from the discovery of positrons, through muons, to that of pions and strange particles. Today we are facing the situation that the puzzling saga of cosmic rays of the highest energies may again unfold in the discovery of new physics, now beyond the Standard Model; or it may bring to life an "extreme" astrophysics. After a short review of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin puzzle, I discuss different models which were suggested for its resolution. Are there any hints pointing to the correct model? I argue that the small-scale clustering of arrival directions of cosmic rays gives a clue, and BL Lacs are the probable sources of the observed events. (58 refs).

Particle injection and cosmic ray acceleration at collisionless parallel shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quest, K.B.

1987-01-01

The structure of collisionless parallel shocks is studied using one-dimensional hybrid simulations, with emphasis on particle injection into the first-order Fermi acceleration process. It is argued that for sufficiently high Mach number shocks, and in the absence of wave turbulence, the fluid firehose marginal stability condition will be exceeded at the interface between the upstream, unshocked, plasma and the heated plasma downstream. As a consequence, nonlinear, low-frequency, electromagnetic waves are generated and act to slow the plasma and provide dissipation for the shock. It is shown that large amplitude waves at the shock ramp scatter a small fraction of the upstream ions back into the upstream medium. These ions, in turn, resonantly generate the electromagnetic waves that are swept back into the shock. As these waves propagate through the shock they are compressed and amplified, allowing them to non-resonantly scatter the bulk of the plasma. Moreover, the compressed waves back-scatter a small fraction of the upstream ions, maintaining the shock structure in a quasi-steady state. The back-scattered ions are accelerated during the wave generation process to 2 to 4 times the ram energy and provide a likely seed population for cosmic rays. 49 refs., 7 figs

Anomalous Transport of Cosmic Rays in a Nonlinear Diffusion Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Litvinenko, Yuri E. [Department of Mathematics, University of Waikato, P. B. 3105, Hamilton 3240 (New Zealand); Fichtner, Horst; Walter, Dominik [Institut für Theoretische Physik IV, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, D-44780 Bochum (Germany)

2017-05-20

We investigate analytically and numerically the transport of cosmic rays following their escape from a shock or another localized acceleration site. Observed cosmic-ray distributions in the vicinity of heliospheric and astrophysical shocks imply that anomalous, superdiffusive transport plays a role in the evolution of the energetic particles. Several authors have quantitatively described the anomalous diffusion scalings, implied by the data, by solutions of a formal transport equation with fractional derivatives. Yet the physical basis of the fractional diffusion model remains uncertain. We explore an alternative model of the cosmic-ray transport: a nonlinear diffusion equation that follows from a self-consistent treatment of the resonantly interacting cosmic-ray particles and their self-generated turbulence. The nonlinear model naturally leads to superdiffusive scalings. In the presence of convection, the model yields a power-law dependence of the particle density on the distance upstream of the shock. Although the results do not refute the use of a fractional advection–diffusion equation, they indicate a viable alternative to explain the anomalous diffusion scalings of cosmic-ray particles.

PRECISE COSMIC RAYS MEASUREMENTS WITH PAMELA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Bruno

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The PAMELA experiment was launched on board the Resurs-DK1 satellite on June 15th 2006. The apparatus was designed to conduct precision studies of charged cosmic radiation over a wide energy range, from tens of MeV up to several hundred GeV, with unprecedented statistics. In five years of continuous data taking in space, PAMELA accurately measured the energy spectra of cosmic ray antiprotons and positrons, as well as protons, electrons and light nuclei, sometimes providing data in unexplored energetic regions. These important results have shed new light in several astrophysical fields like: an indirect search for Dark Matter, a search for cosmological antimatter (anti-Helium, and the validation of acceleration, transport and secondary production models of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. Some of the most important items of Solar and Magnetospheric physics were also investigated. Here we present the most recent results obtained by the PAMELA experiment.

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2006-01-01

The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the high energy Cosmic Ray field. Cosmic Rays are energetic particles from outside the Solar System. The energy spectrum (power law energy dependence) suggests a non-thermal origin of these particles. Most of the studies of Cosmic Rays address fundamental problems: · The nature of the physical and astrophysical processes responsible for the high energies of the particles (up to about 1020 eV/particle), · An estimation of the astrophysical conditions at the acceleration sites and/or search for sources of Cosmic Rays, · properties of high energy particle interactions at very high energies (nuclear interactions at energies exceeding energy available in the laboratories). Some Cosmic Ray studies might have practical (commercial) implications, e.g. · 'cosmic weather' forecast - predictions of geomagnetic disturbances related to Solar activity changes (due to large Solar Flares / events of Coronal Mass Ejection); these are important for large electricity networks, gas pipes, radio-wave connections, space missions and satellite experiments. Presentation of Cosmic Ray registration to high school students becomes a popular way to introduce particle physics detectors and elementary particle detection techniques to young people. Energetic Cosmic Ray particles produce cascades of particles in the atmosphere, called Extensive Air Showers (EAS). Registering EAS and their properties is the main way of experimental studies of very high energy Cosmic Rays. In the Lodz Department we run the Extensive Air Shower array where EAS are being registered. We concentrate on the studies of detection of neutrons correlated with EAS and interpretation of this phenomenon. In 2004, we started realisation of the Roland Maze Project, the network of EAS detectors placed on roofs of high schools in Lodz. We received funds from the City of Lodz budget to make a pilot project and equip 10 high schools, each with four 1 m

Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays: facts, myths and legends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anchordoqui, L.A.

2011-01-01

This is a written version of a series of lectures aimed at graduate students in astrophysics and theoretical/experimental particle physics. In the first part, we explain the important progress made in recent years towards understanding the experimental data on cosmic rays with energies > or approx. 10 8 GeV. We begin with a brief survey of the available data, including a description of the energy spectrum, mass composition and arrival directions. At this point we also give a short overview of experimental techniques. After that, we introduce the fundamentals of acceleration and propagation in order to discuss the conjectured nearby cosmic-ray sources, and emphasize some of the prospects for a new (multiparticle) astronomy. Next, we survey the state of the art regarding the ultrahigh-energy cosmic neutrinos that should be produced in association with the observed cosmic rays. In the second part, we summarize the phenomenology of cosmic-ray air showers. We explain the hadronic interaction models used to extrapolate results from collider data to ultrahigh energies, and describe the prospects for insights into forward physics at the Large Hadron Collider. We also explain the main electromagnetic processes that govern the longitudinal shower evolution. Armed with these two principal shower ingredients and motivation from the underlying physics, we describe the different methods proposed to distinguish primary species. In the last part, we outline how ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray interactions can be used to probe new physics beyond the electroweak scale. (author)

Cosmic Ray Acceleration by a Versatile Family of Galactic Wind Termination Shocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bustard, Chad; Zweibel, Ellen G. [Physics Department, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Cotter, Cory, E-mail: bustard@wisc.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2535 Sterling Hall, 475 N. Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)

2017-01-20

There are two distinct breaks in the cosmic ray (CR) spectrum: the so-called “knee” around 3 × 10{sup 15} eV and the so-called “ankle” around 10{sup 18} eV. Diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) at supernova remnant (SNR) shock fronts is thought to accelerate galactic CRs to energies below the knee, while an extragalactic origin is presumed for CRs with energies beyond the ankle. CRs with energies between 3 × 10{sup 15} and 10{sup 18} eV, which we dub the “shin,” have an unknown origin. It has been proposed that DSA at galactic wind termination shocks, rather than at SNR shocks, may accelerate CRs to these energies. This paper uses the galactic wind model of Bustard et al. to analyze whether galactic wind termination shocks may accelerate CRs to shin energies within a reasonable acceleration time and whether such CRs can subsequently diffuse back to the Galaxy. We argue for acceleration times on the order of 100 Myr rather than a few billion years, as assumed in some previous works, and we discuss prospects for magnetic field amplification at the shock front. Ultimately, we generously assume that the magnetic field is amplified to equipartition. This formalism allows us to obtain analytic formulae, applicable to any wind model, for CR acceleration. Even with generous assumptions, we find that very high wind velocities are required to set up the necessary conditions for acceleration beyond 10{sup 17} eV. We also estimate the luminosities of CRs accelerated by outflow termination shocks, including estimates for the Milky Way wind.

Stellar origin of the 22Ne excess in cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casse, M.; Paul, J.A.

1982-01-01

The 22 Ne excess at the cosmic-ray source is discussed in terms of a 22 Ne-rich component injected and accelerated by carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet stars. The overabundance of 22 Ne relative to 20 Ne predicted at the surface of these stars is estimated to a factor approx.120 with respect to solar system abundances. In order to give rise to a 22 Ne excess of about 3 at the cosmic-ray sources as inferred from observations, the carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet contribution to the primary cosmic-ray flux is to be at maximum 1/60. This component would be energized by strong stellar winds producing quasi-standing shocks around the Wolf-Rayet stars

Calculation of cosmic ray induced single event upsets: Program CRUP (Cosmic Ray Upset Program)

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, P.

1983-09-01

This report documents PROGRAM CRUP, COSMIC RAY UPSET PROGRAM. The computer program calculates cosmic ray induced single-event error rates in microelectronic circuits exposed to several representative cosmic-ray environments.

Cosmic ray diffusion: report of the workshop in cosmic ray diffusion theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birmingham, T.J.; Jones, F.C.

1975-02-01

A workshop in cosmic ray diffusion theory was held at Goddard Space Flight Center on May 16-17, 1974. Topics discussed and summarized are: (1) cosmic ray measurements as related to diffusion theory; (2) quasi-linear theory, nonlinear theory, and computer simulation of cosmic ray pitch-angle diffusion; and (3) magnetic field fluctuation measurements as related to diffusion theory. (auth)

11. European cosmic ray symposium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-03-01

The biannual Symposium includes all aspects of cosmic ray research. The scientific programme was organized under three main headings: Cosmic rays in the heliosphere, Cosmic rays in the interstellar and extragalactic space, Properties of high-energy interactions as studied by cosmic rays. Seven invited talks were indexed seprately for the INIS database. (R.P.)

Interactions of cosmic ray hadrons from 104 to 106 GeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaisser, T.K.

1977-01-01

Three topics from the field of high energy cosmic rays that are relevant to properties of hadronic interactions at energies not accessible to existing accelerators are discussed. In each case, the implications for future experiments at ISABELLE and other accelerators planned to probe the energy range of E/sub Lab/ approximately 10 4 GeV and beyond are evaluated. A systematic analysis of inclusive distributions of photons produced in collisions of hadrons with light nuclei is given. The overall conclusion is that, although the data is consistent with scaling for small x in the fragmentation region, the plateau appears to rise significantly beyond ISR energies with a correspondingly rapid increase in multiplicity. The situation in the more controversial field of high p/sub T/ in cosmic rays is summarized. If the suggestions of some experiments are correct, then the high p/sub T/ component of hadronic interactions must become much more important relative to the normal component for E/sub Lab/ > 10 4 GeV than would be expected by extrapolating accelerator data on high p/sub T/ using fits of the form p/sub T/ -8 . Some analyses of atmospheric cascades produced by interactions of cosmic rays of E greater than or equal to 10 6 GeV are briefly reviewed. The interpretation of these experiments is ambiguous because the primary composition of cosmic rays is unknown at these energies. It is, however, possible to draw conclusions corresponding to various assumptions about the primary composition

Inverse problem for extragalactic transport of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ptuskin, V.S.; Rogovaya, S.I.; Zirakashvili, V.N.

2015-01-01

The energy spectra and composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are changing in a course of propagation in the expanding Universe filled with background radiation. We developed a numerical code for solution of inverse problem for cosmic-ray transport equations that allows the determination of average source spectra of different nuclei from the cosmic ray spectra observed at the Earth. Employing this approach, the injection spectra of protons and Iron nuclei in extragalactic sources are found assuming that only these species are accelerated at the source. The data from the Auger experiment and the combined data from the Telescope Array + HiRes experiments are used to illustrate the method

Inverse problem for extragalactic transport of ultra-high energy cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ptuskin, V.S.; Rogovaya, S.I.; Zirakashvili, V.N., E-mail: vptuskin@izmiran.ru, E-mail: rogovaya@izmiran.ru, E-mail: zirak@izmiran.ru [Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IZMIRAN), Troitsk, Moscow, 142190 (Russian Federation)

2015-03-01

The energy spectra and composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are changing in a course of propagation in the expanding Universe filled with background radiation. We developed a numerical code for solution of inverse problem for cosmic-ray transport equations that allows the determination of average source spectra of different nuclei from the cosmic ray spectra observed at the Earth. Employing this approach, the injection spectra of protons and Iron nuclei in extragalactic sources are found assuming that only these species are accelerated at the source. The data from the Auger experiment and the combined data from the Telescope Array + HiRes experiments are used to illustrate the method.

Particle and astrophysics aspects of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sigl, G.

2001-01-01

The origin of cosmic rays is one of the major unresolved astrophysical questions. In particular, the highest energy cosmic rays observed possess macroscopic energies and their origin is likely to be associated with the most energetic processes in the Universe. Their existence triggered a flurry of theoretical explanations ranging from conventional shock acceleration to particle physics beyond the Standard Model and processes taking place at the earliest moments of our Universe. Furthermore, many new experimental activities promise a strong increase of statistics at the highest energies and a combination with γ-ray and neutrino astrophysics will put strong constraints on these theoretical models. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations indicate that charged ultra-high energy cosmic rays can also be used as probes of large scale magnetic fields whose origin may open another window into the very early Universe. We give an overview over this quickly evolving research field. (author)

Particle and astrophysics aspects of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sigl, G [Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, Paris (France)

2001-11-15

The origin of cosmic rays is one of the major unresolved astrophysical questions. In particular, the highest energy cosmic rays observed possess macroscopic energies and their origin is likely to be associated with the most energetic processes in the Universe. Their existence triggered a flurry of theoretical explanations ranging from conventional shock acceleration to particle physics beyond the Standard Model and processes taking place at the earliest moments of our Universe. Furthermore, many new experimental activities promise a strong increase of statistics at the highest energies and a combination with {gamma}-ray and neutrino astrophysics will put strong constraints on these theoretical models. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations indicate that charged ultra-high energy cosmic rays can also be used as probes of large scale magnetic fields whose origin may open another window into the very early Universe. We give an overview over this quickly evolving research field. (author)

Cosmic ray electrons and protons, and their antiparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boezio, Mirko

2014-01-01

Cosmic rays are a sample of solar, galactic, and extragalactic matter. Their origin, acceleration mechanisms, and subsequent propagation toward Earth have intrigued scientists since their discovery. These issues can be studied via analysis of the energy spectra and composition of cosmic rays. Protons are the most abundant component of the cosmic radiation, and many experiments have been dedicated to the accurate measurement of their spectra. Complementary information is provided by electrons, which comprise about 1% of the cosmic radiation. Because of their low mass, electrons experience severe energy losses through synchrotron emission in the galactic magnetic field and inverse Compton scattering of radiation fields. Electrons therefore provide information on the local galactic environment that is not accessible from the study of the cosmic ray nuclei. Antiparticles, namely antiprotons and positrons, are produced in the interaction between cosmic ray nuclei and the interstellar matter. They are therefore intimately linked to the propagation mechanisms of the parent nuclei. Novel sources of primary cosmic ray antiparticles of either astrophysical (e.g., positrons from pulsars) or exotic origin (e.g., annihilation of dark matter particles) may exist. The nature of dark matter is one of the most prominent open questions in science today. An observation of positrons from pulsars would open a new observation window on these sources. Several experiments equipped with state-of-the art detector systems have recently presented results on the energy spectra of electrons, protons, and their antiparticles with a significant improvement in statistics and better control of systematics The status of the field will be reviewed, with a focus on these recent scientific results. (author)

Prospects for identifying the sources of the Galactic cosmic rays with IceCube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halzen, Francis; Kappes, Alexander; O Murchadha, Aongus

2008-01-01

We quantitatively address whether IceCube, a kilometer-scale neutrino detector under construction at the South Pole, can observe neutrinos pointing back at the accelerators of the Galactic cosmic rays. The photon flux from candidate sources identified by the Milagro detector in a survey of the TeV sky is consistent with the flux expected from a typical cosmic-ray generating supernova remnant interacting with the interstellar medium. We show here that IceCube can provide incontrovertible evidence of cosmic-ray acceleration in these sources by detecting neutrinos. We find that the signal is optimally identified by specializing to events with energies above 30 TeV where the atmospheric neutrino background is low. We conclude that evidence for a correlation between the Milagro and IceCube sky maps should be conclusive after several years.

Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory: a global cosmic ray detection framework

Science.gov (United States)

Sushchov, O.; Homola, P.; Dhital, N.; Bratek, Ł.; Poznański, P.; Wibig, T.; Zamora-Saa, J.; Almeida Cheminant, K.; Alvarez Castillo, D.; Góra, D.; Jagoda, P.; Jałocha, J.; Jarvis, J. F.; Kasztelan, M.; Kopański, K.; Krupiński, M.; Michałek, M.; Nazari, V.; Smelcerz, K.; Smolek, K.; Stasielak, J.; Sułek, M.

2017-12-01

The main objective of the Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) is the detection and analysis of extended cosmic ray phenomena, so-called super-preshowers (SPS), using existing as well as new infrastructure (cosmic-ray observatories, educational detectors, single detectors etc.). The search for ensembles of cosmic ray events initiated by SPS is yet an untouched ground, in contrast to the current state-of-the-art analysis, which is focused on the detection of single cosmic ray events. Theoretical explanation of SPS could be given either within classical (e.g., photon-photon interaction) or exotic (e.g., Super Heavy Dark Matter decay or annihilation) scenarios, thus detection of SPS would provide a better understanding of particle physics, high energy astrophysics and cosmology. The ensembles of cosmic rays can be classified based on the spatial and temporal extent of particles constituting the ensemble. Some classes of SPS are predicted to have huge spatial distribution, a unique signature detectable only with a facility of the global size. Since development and commissioning of a completely new facility with such requirements is economically unwarranted and time-consuming, the global analysis goals are achievable when all types of existing detectors are merged into a worldwide network. The idea to use the instruments in operation is based on a novel trigger algorithm: in parallel to looking for neighbour surface detectors receiving the signal simultaneously, one should also look for spatially isolated stations clustered in a small time window. On the other hand, CREDO strategy is also aimed at an active engagement of a large number of participants, who will contribute to the project by using common electronic devices (e.g., smartphones), capable of detecting cosmic rays. It will help not only in expanding the geographical spread of CREDO, but also in managing a large manpower necessary for a more efficient crowd-sourced pattern recognition scheme to

Cosmic rays and terrestrial life: A brief review

Science.gov (United States)

Atri, Dimitra; Melott, Adrian L.

2014-01-01

“The investigation into the possible effects of cosmic rays on living organisms will also offer great interest.” - Victor F. Hess, Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1936 High-energy radiation bursts are commonplace in our Universe. From nearby solar flares to distant gamma ray bursts, a variety of physical processes accelerate charged particles to a wide range of energies, which subsequently reach the Earth. Such particles contribute to a number of physical processes occurring in the Earth system. A large fraction of the energy of charged particles gets deposited in the atmosphere, ionizing it, causing changes in its chemistry and affecting the global electric circuit. Remaining secondary particles contribute to the background dose of cosmic rays on the surface and parts of the subsurface region. Life has evolved over the past ∼3 billion years in presence of this background radiation, which itself has varied considerably during the period [1-3]. As demonstrated by the Miller-Urey experiment, lightning plays a very important role in the formation of complex organic molecules, which are the building blocks of more complex structures forming life. There is growing evidence of increase in the lightning rate with increasing flux of charged particles. Is there a connection between enhanced rate of cosmic rays and the origin of life? Cosmic ray secondaries are also known to damage DNA and cause mutations, leading to cancer and other diseases. It is now possible to compute radiation doses from secondary particles, in particular muons and neutrons. Have the variations in cosmic ray flux affected the evolution of life on earth? We describe the mechanisms of cosmic rays affecting terrestrial life and review the potential implications of the variation of high-energy astrophysical radiation on the history of life on earth.

Cosmic-ray ultra high-energy multijet family event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Bao-tang; Wang Cheng-rui; Ren Jing-ru

1987-01-01

A cosmic-ray ultra-high-energy multijet family event with visible energy of about 1500 TeV and five large cores is reported. This event was found in the 1980-1981 exposure of the Mt. Kambala (5500 M a.s.l.) emulsion-chamber experiment. The family characteristics are analyzed and compared with other cosmic ray events in the same energy range. The production and fragmentation characteristics of the five jets are studied and compared with the experimental results of accelerators and emulsion chamber C-jets as well as with QCD predictions above the TeV range. Some features on hadronic interactions in the TeV range are discussed

Cosmic rays in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujitaka, Kazunobu

2005-01-01

Cosmos is a mysterious space by which many researchers are fascinated for many years. But, going into space means that we will receive extra exposure due to existence of cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are mainly composed of highly energetic protons. It was born in the last stage of stellar life. Understanding of cosmos will certainly bring right understanding of radiation energy, or energy itself. As no one could see the very early stage of cosmic rays, there is only a speculation. But it is better to speculate something based on certain side evidences, than to give up the whole. Such attitude shall be welcomed in the space researches. Anyway, cosmic rays were born in the last explosion of a star, which is called as Super Nova. After cosmic rays are emitted from the Super Nova, it will reach to the human surroundings. To indicate its intensity, special unit of ''dose rate'' is used. When a man climbs a mountain, cosmic ray intensity surely increases. It doubles as he goes up every 1500m elevation. It was ascertained by our own measurements. Then what happens when the goes up more? At aviation altitude, where airplanes fly, the dose rate will be increased up to 100times the high mountain cases. And what is expected when he goes up further more, up to space orbit altitude? In this case, the dose rate increases up to 10times the airplane cases. Geomagnetism affects the dose rate very much. As primary cosmic ray particles are charged particles, they cannot do well with existence of the magnetic field. In effect, cosmic rays can penetrate into the polar atmosphere along geomagnetic lines of forces which stand almost vertical, but penetration of low energy cosmic rays will be banned when they intend to penetrate crossing the geomagnetic lines of forces in equatorial region. Therefore, exposure due to cosmic rays will become large in polar region, while it remains small in equatorial region. In effect, airplanes which fly over the equator. Only, we have to know that the cosmos

Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays

CERN Document Server

Dova, M.T.

2015-05-22

The origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above E > 10 17 eV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. This is a written version of a series of lectures devoted to UHECR at the 2013 CERN-Latin-American School of High-Energy Physics. We present anintroduction to acceleration mechanisms of charged particles to the highest energies in astrophysical objects, their propagation from the sources to Earth, and the experimental techniques for their detection. We also discuss some of the relevant observational results from Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

A common origin of all the species of high energy cosmic rays?

CERN Document Server

Dar, Arnon; Antoniou, Nikos; Dar, Arnon; Antoniou, Nikos

2000-01-01

The cosmic ray nuclei with energy above a few GeV, the cosmic ray electrons of energy above a few MeV and the diffuse gamma-ray background above a few MeV, could all predominantly originate from our galaxy {\\it and its halo}. The mechanism accelerating hadrons and electrons is the same, the electron spectrum is modulated by inverse Compton scattering on the microwave background radiation, and the $\\gamma$-rays are the resulting recoiling photons. The spectra calculated on this basis agree with observations.

Abnormal increase of cosmic ray on August 7th, 1972

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodama, Masahiro; Murakami, Kazuaki; Wada, Masami

1974-01-01

The abnormal increase of cosmic ray on Aug. 7th particularly the dependence of its starting time on local time was studied. Cosmic ray increased twice before and after the greatest Forbush decrease in history on August 4th and 7th, 1972. This study is a trial to estimate the anisotropic flow of solar cosmic ray from the time difference time at different places. Further, the past instance of 23 ground-level events were statistically restudied, and the relationship between the time of generation of solar cosmic ray and the time of transmission to the earth was investigated. A list is given regarding the solar cosmic ray of more than 10 9 eV which occurred since the observation had started. The list shows definite three groups. Attention is paid to the transmission time of F type which is considered to have the most simplest transmission mechanism. The dispersion of the transmission time is large regarding flare-starting time and peak wave intensity time, but is small regarding solar wave-starting time, but the dependence on the longitude is systematic. After all, cosmic ray is accelerated after 10 minutes since solar electric wave has started, and arrives at the earth most early in the case of a flare occurred at the root of garden force line toward the earth. In conclusion, the method of studying the difference of the starting time of abnormal increase according to local time may be an effective means for examining in the characteristics of anisotropic flow of solar cosmic ray. (Iwakiri, K.)

Cosmic ray modulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Hirosachi

1974-01-01

It is important to know the physical state of solar plasma region by the observation of intensity variation of cosmic ray which passed through the solar plasma region, because earth magnetosphere is formed by the interaction between geomagnetic field and solar plasma flow. The observation of cosmic ray intensity is useful to know the average condition of the space of 0.1--3 A.U., and gives the structure of the magnetic field in solar wind affecting the earth magnetosphere. The observation of neutron component in cosmic ray has been carried out at Norikura, Tokyo, Fukushima and Morioka. The lower limit of the energy of incident cosmic ray which can be observed at each station is different, and the fine structure of the variation can be known by comparison. The intensity of meson component in cosmic ray has been measured in underground, and the state of solar plasma region 2--3 A.U. from the earth can be known. The underground measurement has been made at Takeyama and Matsumoto, and a new station at Sakashita is proposed. The measurement at Sakashita will be made by proportional counters at the depth of 100m (water equivalent). Arrangement of detectors is shown. (Kato, T.)

THE UNREASONABLE WEAKNESS OF R -PROCESS COSMIC RAYS IN THE NEUTRON-STAR-MERGER NUCLEOSYNTHESIS SCENARIO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kyutoku, Koutarou [Interdisciplinary Theoretical Science (iTHES) Research Group, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Ioka, Kunihito, E-mail: koutarou.kyutoku@riken.jp [Center for Gravitational Physics, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502 (Japan)

2016-08-10

We reach the robust conclusion that, by combining the observed cosmic rays of r -process elements with the fact that the velocity of the neutron-star-merger ejecta is much higher than that of the supernova ejecta, either (1) the reverse shock in the neutron-star-merger ejecta is a very inefficient accelerator that converts less than 0.003% of the ejecta kinetic energy to the cosmic-ray energy or (2) the neutron star merger is not the origin of the Galactic r -process elements. We also find that the acceleration efficiency should be less than 0.1% for the reverse shock of the supernova ejecta with observed cosmic rays lighter than the iron.

Cosmic ray: Studying the origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

1997-01-01

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 composition of cosmic rays (because it reflects source morphology), and studies of cosmic rays with energy above 1O 19 eV (for these are the highest energies observed in nature). (author)

A cosmic ray super high energy multijet family event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Baotang; Wang Chengrui; Ren Jingru

1986-01-01

A cosmic ray super high energy family event with visible energy of about 1500 TeV and five big cores is reported. This event was found in the 1980-1981 exposure of Mt. Kambala (5500 M a.s.l.) emulsion chamber experiment. The family characteristics are analyzed and compared with the other cosmic ray events in the same energy range. The production and fragmentation characteristics of the five jets are studied and compared with the experimntal results of accelerators and C-jets as well as with QCD predictions up to TeV. Some features on hadronic interactions at TeV range are discussed

THE IMPLICATIONS OF A HIGH COSMIC-RAY IONIZATION RATE IN DIFFUSE INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Indriolo, Nick; Fields, Brian D.; McCall, Benjamin J.

2009-01-01

Diffuse interstellar clouds show large abundances of H + 3 which can only be maintained by a high ionization rate of H 2 . Cosmic rays are the dominant ionization mechanism in this environment, so the large ionization rate implies a high cosmic-ray flux, and a large amount of energy residing in cosmic rays. In this paper, we find that the standard propagated cosmic-ray spectrum predicts an ionization rate much lower than that inferred from H + 3 . Low-energy (∼10 MeV) cosmic rays are the most efficient at ionizing hydrogen, but cannot be directly detected; consequently, an otherwise unobservable enhancement of the low-energy cosmic-ray flux offers a plausible explanation for the H + 3 results. Beyond ionization, cosmic rays also interact with the interstellar medium by spalling atomic nuclei and exciting atomic nuclear states. These processes produce the light elements Li, Be, and B, as well as gamma-ray lines. To test the consequences of an enhanced low-energy cosmic-ray flux, we adopt two physically motivated cosmic-ray spectra which by construction reproduce the ionization rate inferred in diffuse clouds, and investigate the implications of these spectra on dense cloud ionization rates, light-element abundances, gamma-ray fluxes, and energetics. One spectrum proposed here provides an explanation for the high ionization rate seen in diffuse clouds while still appearing to be broadly consistent with other observables, but the shape of this spectrum suggests that supernovae remnants may not be the predominant accelerators of low-energy cosmic rays.

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (2/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above 1000 TeV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. In these lectures we present the recent observational results from HiRes, Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory as well as (some of) the possible astrophysical origins of UHECR. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (1/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above 1000 TeV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. In these lectures we present the recent observational results from HiRes, Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory as well as (some of) the possible astrophysical origins of UHECR. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (3/3)

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays (UHECR) with energies above 1000 TeV, is still unknown. The discovery of their sources will reveal the engines of the most energetic astrophysical accelerators in the universe. In these lectures we present the recent observational results from HiRes, Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory as well as (some of) the possible astrophysical origins of UHECR. These experiments deal with particle interactions at energies orders of magnitude higher than achieved in terrestrial accelerators.

Cosmic-ray-veto detector system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, D.W.; Menlove, H.O.

1992-12-01

To reduce the cosmic-ray-induced neutron background, we are testing a cosmic-ray veto option with a neutron detector system that uses plastic scintillator slabs mounted on the outside of a 3 He-tube detector. The scintillator slabs eliminate unwanted cosmic-ray events, enabling the detector to assay low-level plutonium samples, for which a low-background coincident signature is critical. This report describes the design and testing of the prototype cosmic-ray-veto detector system

Cosmic ray: Studying the origin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szabelski, J. [Cosmic Ray Laboratory, Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies, Lodz (Poland)

1997-12-31

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{sup 15} eV (since photons point to their places of origin), studies of the mass composition of cosmic rays (because it reflects source morphology), and studies of cosmic rays with energy above 1O{sup 19} eV (for these are the highest energies observed in nature). (author) 101 refs, 19 figs, 7 tabs

Cosmic Connections:. from Cosmic Rays to Gamma Rays, Cosmic Backgrounds and Magnetic Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Kusenko, Alexander

2013-12-01

Combined data from gamma-ray telescopes and cosmic-ray detectors have produced some new surprising insights regarding intergalactic and galactic magnetic fields, as well as extragalactic background light. We review some recent advances, including a theory explaining the hard spectra of distant blazars and the measurements of intergalactic magnetic fields based on the spectra of distant sources. Furthermore, we discuss the possible contribution of transient galactic sources, such as past gamma-ray bursts and hypernova explosions in the Milky Way, to the observed ux of ultrahigh-energy cosmicrays nuclei. The need for a holistic treatment of gamma rays, cosmic rays, and magnetic fields serves as a unifying theme for these seemingly unrelated phenomena.

Acceleration and propagation of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemoine, Martin

2013-01-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays represents one of the most conspicuous enigmas of modern astrophysics, in spite of gigantic experimental efforts in the past fifty years, and of active theoretical research. The past decade has known exciting experimental results, most particularly the detection of a cut-off at the expected position for the long sought Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin suppression as well as evidence for large scale anisotropies. This paper summarizes and discusses recent achievements in this field.

Acceleration and propagation of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

Science.gov (United States)

Lemoine, Martin

2013-02-01

The origin of the highest energy cosmic rays represents one of the most conspicuous enigmas of modern astrophysics, in spite of gigantic experimental efforts in the past fifty years, and of active theoretical research. The past decade has known exciting experimental results, most particularly the detection of a cut-off at the expected position for the long sought Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin suppression as well as evidence for large scale anisotropies. This paper summarizes and discusses recent achievements in this field.

R -process Element Cosmic Rays from Neutron Star Mergers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komiya, Yutaka; Shigeyama, Toshikazu [Research Center for the Early Universe, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0033, Tokyo (Japan)

2017-09-10

Neutron star mergers (NSMs) are one of the most plausible sources of r -process elements in the universe. Therefore, NSMs can also be a major source of ultra-heavy elements in cosmic rays. In this paper, we first estimate the contribution of r -process elements synthesized in NSMs to the ultra-heavy element cosmic rays (UHCRs) by calculating transport equations that take into account energy loss processes and spallations. We show that the flux of UHCRs accelerated by the NSMs themselves fluctuates by many orders of magnitude on a timescale of several million years and can overwhelm UHCRs accelerated by supernova remnants (SNRs) after an NSM takes place within a few kiloparsec from the solar system. Experiments with very long exposure times using meteorites as UHCR detectors can detect this fluctuation. As a consequence, we show that if NSMs are the primary source of UHCRs, future experiments using meteorites may be able to reveal the event history of NSMs in the solar vicinity. We also describe a possible difference in the abundance pattern and energy spectrum of UHCRs between NSM and SNR accelerations.

CERN explores link between cosmic rays and clouds

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

"Scientists at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, have started a new experiment to investigate the possible influence of galactic cosmic rays on the Earths clouds and climate. This is the first time that a high energy physics accelerator has been used for atmospheric and climate science." (1 page)

Cosmic ray physics in space: the role of Sergey Vernov's scientific school

Science.gov (United States)

Panasyuk, M. I.

2011-04-01

Cosmic rays were discovered almost 100 years ago. Since then the scientific world has learned a lot from their nature: the particles nascent in the Universe, both in our Galaxy and outside, the basic mechanisms of their acceleration, transfer in the interstellar environment and the interaction of the primary cosmic rays with the atmosphere surrounding the Earth. Before 1957, i.e., the beginning of the Space Era, researchers' capabilities were limited to experiments performed on the ground, underground and in near-ground atmosphere to flight altitudes of aerostats, airplanes and rockets, i.e., where only secondary radiation is in existence, this is the result of the interaction of cosmic rays with the Earth's atmosphere. The launching of spacecraft allowed the scientists to commence exploring the Universe's primordial matter itself outside the atmosphere, i.e., the primary cosmic rays. Sergey Vernov, the Russian scientist, was among them.

Could the cosmic acceleration be transient?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guimaraes, Antonio C.C.; Lima, J.A.S. [Universidade de Sao Paulo (IAG/USP), SP (Brazil). Inst. de Astronomia, Geofisica e Ciencias Atmosfericas

2011-07-01

Full text: The possibility of a transient cosmic acceleration appears in several theoretical scenarios and is theoretically interesting because it solves some difficulties inherent to eternally accelerating universes (like {Lambda}CDM). On the observational side, some authors, using a dynamical Ansatz for the dark energy equation of state, have suggested that the cosmic acceleration have already peaked and that we are currently witnessing its slowing down. Here, a possible slowing down of the cosmic expansion is investigated through a cosmographic approach. By expanding the luminous distance to fourth order and fitting the SNe Ia data from the most recent compilations (Union, Constitution and Union 2), the marginal likelihood distribution for the deceleration parameter today indicates that there is a considerable probability for q{sub 0} > 0. Also in contrast to the prediction of the {Lambda}CDM model, the cosmographic q(z) reconstruction suggests that the cosmic acceleration could already have peaked and be presently slowing down, what would imply that the recent accelerated expansion of the Universe is a transient phenomenon. It is also shown that to describe a transient acceleration the luminous distance needs to be expanded at least to fourth order. The present cosmographic results depend neither on the validity of general relativity nor on the matter-energy contents of the Universe. (author)

Accelerated testing for cosmic soft-error rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ziegler, J.F.; Muhlfeld, H.P.; Montrose, C.J.; Curtis, H.W.; O'Gorman, T.J.; Ross, J.M.

1996-01-01

This paper describes the experimental techniques which have been developed at IBM to determine the sensitivity of electronic circuits to cosmic rays at sea level. It relates IBM circuit design and modeling, chip manufacture with process variations, and chip testing for SER sensitivity. This vertical integration from design to final test and with feedback to design allows a complete picture of LSI sensitivity to cosmic rays. Since advanced computers are designed with LSI chips long before the chips have been fabricated, and the system architecture is fully formed before the first chips are functional, it is essential to establish the chip reliability as early as possible. This paper establishes techniques to test chips that are only partly functional (e.g., only 1Mb of a 16Mb memory may be working) and can establish chip soft-error upset rates before final chip manufacturing begins. Simple relationships derived from measurement of more than 80 different chips manufactured over 20 years allow total cosmic soft-error rate (SER) to be estimated after only limited testing. Comparisons between these accelerated test results and similar tests determined by ''field testing'' (which may require a year or more of testing after manufacturing begins) show that the experimental techniques are accurate to a factor of 2

PAMELA mission: heralding a new era in cosmic ray physics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricciarini S. B.

2014-04-01

Full Text Available After seven years of data taking in space, the experiment PAMELA is showing very interesting features in cosmic rays, namely in the fluxes of protons, helium, electrons, that might change our basic vision of the mechanisms of production, acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays in the galaxy. In addition, PAMELA measurements of cosmic antiproton and positron fluxes are setting strong constraints to the nature of Dark Matter. The continuous particle detection is allowing a constant monitoring of the solar activity and detailed study of the solar modulation for a long period, giving important improvements to the comprehension of the heliosphere mechanisms. PAMELA is also measuring the radiation environment around the Earth, and has recently discovered an antiproton radiation belt.

Search for tachyonomonopoles in cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, D.F.; Nauenberg, U.

1977-05-01

Two of the most speculative particles are the magnetic monopole and the tachyon. One conjectures that these particles exist in cosmic rays as a combined ''tachyon monopole''. The fringing magnetic field of Fermilab's 15-foot bubble chamber is used to ''accelerate'' the tachyon to sufficiently high energy that it can emit visible Cherenkov radiation. This radiation is detected by 8 photomultiplier tubes mounted on the corners of a room-sized box which is suspended from the ceiling above the bubble chamber. Two small plastic scintillator counters placed inside the box differentiate between extensive air showers and tachyon monopoles. The detector was exposed to cosmic rays for 50 days. During that time we have not recorded any tachyon monopoles. The flux of such particles in cosmic rays cannot exceed 2.5 x 10 -15 cm -2 sec -1 if they follow the earth's magnetic field lines or 1.2 x 10 -12 cm -2 sec -1 if they do not. In either event this limit is at least 400 times lower than that inferred from a previous measurement. One did record counts from extensive air showers at a rate consistent with previous experiment. This rate was halved when the bubble chamber's magnetic field was turned off. This phenomenon was likely caused by focusing of the shower electrons in the fringing magnetic field of the bubble chamber

Anomalous Distributions of Primary Cosmic Rays as Evidence for Time-dependent Particle Acceleration in Supernova Remnants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yiran; Liu, Siming; Yuan, Qiang, E-mail: liusm@pmo.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)

2017-07-20

Recent precise measurements of cosmic-ray (CR) spectra show that the energy distribution of protons is softer than those of heavier nuclei, and there are spectral hardenings for all nuclear compositions above ∼200 GV. Models proposed for these anomalies generally assume steady-state solutions of the particle acceleration process. We show that if the diffusion coefficient has a weak dependence on the particle rigidity near shock fronts of supernova remnants (SNRs), time-dependent solutions of the linear diffusive shock acceleration at two stages of SNR evolution can naturally account for these anomalies. The high-energy component of CRs is dominated by acceleration in the free expansion and adiabatic phases with enriched heavy elements and a high shock speed. The low-energy component may be attributed to acceleration by slow shocks propagating in dense molecular clouds with low metallicity in the radiative phase. Instead of a single power-law distribution, the spectra of time-dependent solutions soften gradually with the increase of energy, which may be responsible for the “knee” of CRs.

Flux and anisotropy of galactic cosmic rays: beyond homogeneous models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, Guilhem

2013-01-01

In this thesis I study the consequence of non homogeneously distributed cosmic ray sources in the Milky way. The document starts with theoretical and experimental synthesis. Firstly, I will describe the interstellar medium to understand the mechanism of propagation and acceleration of cosmic rays. Then, the detailed study of cosmic rays diffusion on the galactic magnetic field allows to write a commonly used propagation equation. I will recall the Steady-state solutions of this equation, then I will focus on the time dependant solutions with point-like sources. A statistical study is performed in order to estimate the standard deviation of the flux around its mean value. The computation of this standard deviation leads to mathematical divergences. Thus, I will develop statistical tools to bypass this issue. So i will discuss the effect of the granularity of cosmic ray sources. Its impact on cosmic ray spectrum can explain some recent features observed by the experiments CREAM and PAMELA.Besides, this thesis is focused on the study of the anisotropy of cosmic rays. I will recap experimental methods of measurements, and I will show how to connect theoretical calculation from propagation theories to experimental measurements. Then, the influence of the local environment on the anisotropy measurements will be discussed, particularly the effect of a local diffusion coefficient. Then, I will compute anisotropy and its variance in a framework of point-like local sources with the tools developed in the first part. Finally, the possible influence of local sources on the anisotropy is discussed in the light of the last experimental results. (author) [fr

Approximate supernova remnant dynamics with cosmic ray production

Science.gov (United States)

Voelk, H. J.; Drury, L. O.; Dorfi, E. A.

1985-01-01

Supernova explosions are the most violent and energetic events in the galaxy and have long been considered probably sources of Cosmic Rays. Recent shock acceleration models treating the Cosmic Rays (CR's) as test particles nb a prescribed Supernova Remnant (SNR) evolution, indeed indicate an approximate power law momentum distribution f sub source (p) approximation p(-a) for the particles ultimately injected into the Interstellar Medium (ISM). This spectrum extends almost to the momentum p = 1 million GeV/c, where the break in the observed spectrum occurs. The calculated power law index approximately less than 4.2 agrees with that inferred for the galactic CR sources. The absolute CR intensity can however not be well determined in such a test particle approximation.

Approximate supernova remnant dynamics with cosmic ray production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voelk, H.J.; Drury, L.O.; Dorfi, E.A.

1985-01-01

Supernova explosions are the most violent and energetic events in the galaxy and have long been considered probable sources of cosmic rays. Recent shock acceleration models treating the cosmic rays (CR's) as test particles nb a prescribed supernova remnant (SNR) evolution, indeed indicate an approximate power law momentum distribution f sub source (p) approximation p(-a) for the particles ultimately injected into the interstellar medium (ISM). This spectrum extends almost to the momentum p = 1 million GeV/c, where the break in the observed spectrum occurs. The calculated power law index approximately less than 4.2 agrees with that inferred for the galactic CR sources. The absolute CR intensity can however not be well determined in such a test particle approximation

Interplanetary cosmic-ray scintillations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toptygin, I N; Vasiliev, V N [Kalininskij Sel' skokhozyajstvennyj Inst. (USSR)

1977-05-01

The equation for the two-particles cosmic-ray distribution function is derived by means of the Boltzmann kinetic equation averaging. This equation is valid for arbitrary ratio of regular and random parts of the magnetic field. For small energy particles the guiding-center approximation is used. On the basis of the derived equation the dependence between power spectra of cosmic-ray intensity and random magnetic field is obtained. If power spectra are degree functions for high energy particles (approximately 10 GeV nucleon/sup -1/), then the spectral exponent ..gamma.. of magnetic field lies between rho and rho-2, where rho is the spectral exponent of cosmic-ray power spectra. The experimental data concerning moderate energy particles are in accordance with ..gamma..=rho, which demonstrates that the magnetic fluctuations are isotropic or cosmic-ray space gradient is small near the Earth orbit.

Exploring Ultra-Heavy Cosmic Rays with the Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (TIGER)

Science.gov (United States)

Link, Jason; Supertiger Collaboration

2017-01-01

Elements heavier than iron are primarily synthesized by neutron capture. These elements can be accelerated as cosmic-rays and measuring their abundances at Earth can yield information about galactic cosmic-rays' sources, the acceleration processes and the composition of the universe beyond the boundaries of our solar system. The Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (TIGER) and its larger successor SuperTIGER was designed to measure the abundance of these ultra-heavy cosmic rays between Z=10 and Z=60. These detectors utilize scintillators with a wavelength shifter bar and PMT readout system as well as aerogel and acrylic Cherenkov detectors to identify the charge and energy of a particle and utilize a scintillating fiber hodoscope to provide trajectory information. In this talk I will review the results from this highly successful program, give the status for the next SuperTIGER flight planned for a December 2017 launch from Antarctica, and discuss the future direction of the program.

ALICE Cosmic Ray Detector

CERN Multimedia

Fernandez Tellez, A; Martinez Hernandez, M; Rodriguez Cahuantzi, M

2013-01-01

The ALICE underground cavern provides an ideal place for the detection of high energy atmospheric muons coming from cosmic ray showers. ACORDE detects cosmic ray showers by triggering the arrival of muons to the top of the ALICE magnet.

Ultrahigh-energy Cosmic Rays from Fanaroff Riley class II radio galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Rachen, Joerg; Biermann, Peter L.

1992-08-01

The hot spots of very powerful radio galaxies (Fanaroff Riley class II) are argued to be the sources of the ultrahigh energy component in Cosmic Rays. We present calculations of Cosmic Ray transport in an evolving universe, taking the losses against the microwave background properly into account. As input we use the models for the cosmological radio source evolution derived by radioastronomers (mainly Peacock 1985). The model we adopt for the acceleration in the radio hot spots has been introduced by Biermann and Strittmatter (1987), and Meisenheimer et al. (1989) and is based on first order Fermi theory of particle acceleration at shocks (see, e.g., Drury 1983). As an unknown the actual proportion of energy density in protons enters, which together with structural uncertainties in the hot spots should introduce no more than one order of magnitude in uncertainty: We easily reproduce the observed spectra of high energy cosmic rays. It follows that scattering of charged energetic particles in intergalactic space must be sufficiently small in order to obtain contributions from sources as far away as even the nearest Fanaroff Riley class II radio galaxies. This implies a strong constraint on the turbulent magnetic field in intergalactic space.

Angular correlation of cosmic neutrinos with ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and implications for their sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moharana, Reetanjali; Razzaque, Soebur, E-mail: reetanjalim@uj.ac.za, E-mail: srazzaque@uj.ac.za [Department of Physics, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park 2006 (South Africa)

2015-08-01

Cosmic neutrino events detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory with energy 0∼> 3 TeV have poor angular resolutions to reveal their origin. Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), with better angular resolutions at 0>6 EeV energies, can be used to check if the same astrophysical sources are responsible for producing both neutrinos and UHECRs. We test this hypothesis, with statistical methods which emphasize invariant quantities, by using data from the Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array and past cosmic-ray experiments. We find that the arrival directions of the cosmic neutrinos are correlated with 0≥ 10 EeV UHECR arrival directions at confidence level ≈ 90%. The strength of the correlation decreases with decreasing UHECR energy and no correlation exists at energy 0∼ 6 EeV . A search in astrophysical databases within 3{sup o} of the arrival directions of UHECRs with energy 0≥ 10 EeV, that are correlated with the IceCube cosmic neutrinos, resulted in 18 sources from the Swift-BAT X-ray catalog with redshift z≤ 0.06. We also found 3 objects in the Kühr catalog of radio sources using the same criteria. The sources are dominantly Seyfert galaxies with Cygnus A being the most prominent member. We calculate the required neutrino and UHECR fluxes to produce the observed correlated events, and estimate the corresponding neutrino luminosity (25 TeV–2.2 PeV) and cosmic-ray luminosity (500 TeV–180 EeV), assuming the sources are the ones we found in the Swift-BAT and Kühr catalogs. We compare these luminosities with the X-ray luminosity of the corresponding sources and discuss possibilities of accelerating protons to 0∼> 10 EeV and produce neutrinos in these sources.

Cloud a particle beam facility to investigate the influence of cosmic rays on clouds

CERN Document Server

Kirkby, Jasper

2001-01-01

Palaeoclimatic data provide extensive evidence for solar forcing of the climate during the Holocene and the last ice age, but the underlying mechanism remains a mystery. However recent observations suggest that cosmic rays may play a key role. Satellite data have revealed a surprising correlation between cosmic ray intensity and the fraction of the Earth covered by low clouds \\cite{svensmark97,marsh}. Since the cosmic ray intensity is modulated by the solar wind, this may be an important clue to the long-sought mechanism for solar-climate variability. In order to test whether cosmic rays and clouds are causally linked and, if so, to understand the microphysical mechanisms, a novel experiment known as CLOUD\\footnotemark\\ has been proposed \\cite{cloud_proposal}--\\cite{cloud_addendum_2}. CLOUD proposes to investigate ion-aerosol-cloud microphysics under controlled laboratory conditions using a beam from a particle accelerator, which provides a precisely adjustable and measurable artificial source of cosmic rays....

Ultrahigh energy cosmic ray nuclei from extragalactic pulsars and the effect of their Galactic counterparts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, Ke; Olinto, Angela V.; Kotera, Kumiko

2013-01-01

The acceleration of ultrahigh energy nuclei in fast spinning newborn pulsars can explain the observed spectrum of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and the trend towards heavier nuclei for energies above 10 19 eV as reported by the Auger Observatory. Pulsar acceleration implies a hard injection spectrum ( ∼ E −1 ) due to pulsar spin down and a maximum energy E max ∼ Z 10 19 eV due to the limit on the spin rate of neutron stars. We have previously shown that the escape through the young supernova remnant softens the spectrum, decreases slightly the maximum energy, and generates secondary nuclei. Here we show that the distribution of pulsar birth periods and the effect of propagation in the interstellar and intergalactic media modifies the combined spectrum of all pulsars. By assuming a normal distribution of pulsar birth periods centered at 300 ms, we show that the contribution of extragalactic pulsar births to the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray spectrum naturally gives rise to a contribution to very high energy cosmic rays (VHECRs, between 10 16 and 10 18 eV) by Galactic pulsar births. The required injected composition to fit the observed spectrum depends on the absolute energy scale, which is uncertain, differing between Auger Observatory and Telescope Array. The contribution of Galactic pulsar births can also bridge the gap between predictions for cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants and the observed spectrum just below the ankle, depending on the composition of the cosmic rays that escape the supernova remnant and the diffusion behavior of VHECRs in the Galaxy

Non-thermal emission from young supernova remnants: Implications on cosmic ray acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Araya-Arguedas, Miguel A.

For a long time, supernova remnants have been thought to constitute the main source of galactic cosmic rays. Plausible mechanisms have been proposed through which these objects would be able to transfer some of their energy to charged particles. Detailed studies of SNRs, particularly allowed by the spectral and spatial resolution obtained with telescopes such as the Chandra X-Ray Observatory , have permitted us to understand some of the properties of high-energy particles within these objects and their interactions with their environment. In the first part of this work, the basic concepts of particle acceleration in SNRs are outlined, and the main observational tools available today for studying high-energy phenomena in astrophysics are mentioned briefly. In the second part, a study of non-thermal emission from the young SNR Cassiopeia A is presented. Through the use of a very deep one million-second Chandra observation of this remnant, the spectral evolution across non-thermal filaments near the forward shock was studied. A consistent hardening of the spectrum towards the exterior of the remnant was found and explained via a model developed that takes into account particle diffusion, plasma advection and radiation losses. The role of particle diffusion was studied and its effect on the photon spectral index quantified. In the model, the diffusion is included as a fraction of Bohm-type diffusion, which is consistent with the data. The model also allowed an estimation of the electron distribution, the magnetic field and its orientation, as well as the level of magnetic turbulence. In the third part, a multi-wavelength study of two young SNRs is presented. Multi-wavelength modeling of spectral energy distributions (SED) may hold the key to disentangle the nature and content of cosmic rays within these objects. The first model shown presents state of the art measurements gathered for Cassiopeia A, and the modeling is based partly on the results presented in the second

Cosmic rays and the interstellar medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolfendale, A.W.

1986-01-01

It is inevitable that there is a close connection between cosmic rays and the ISM insofar as the propagation of cosmic rays is conditioned by the magnetic field in the ISM and the cosmic rays interact with the gas (and photon fluxes) in this medium. This paper deals with both topics. Propagation effects manifest themselves as an anisotropy in arrival directions and a review is given of anisotropy measurements and their interpretation. The status of studies of cosmic ray interactions is examined whit particular reference to the information about the ISM itself which comes from observations of the flux of secondary γ-rays produced by cosmic ray interactions with gas, the situation regarding molecular as in the Inner Galaxy being of particular concern

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics: Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2001-01-01

Full text: The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the area of high-energy physics and cosmic ray physics related to: Experimental and phenomenological studies of Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic ray particles. Studies of ultra-high energy (above 10 19 eV) cosmic rays: determination of energy and primary particle mass composition. Studies of asymptotic properties of hadronic interactions based on the analysis of cosmic ray propagation through the atmosphere. Studies of mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 -10 17 eV. Registration of cosmic ray intensity variation correlated with solar activity. Theoretical and experimental studies of Extensive Air Shower properties are performed mostly based on the results obtained by the Lodz Extensive Air Shower Array. We have noticed unexplainable delayed signals registered about 500-900 microseconds after the main EAS pulse. We prepared hardware for further experimental study of this effect. In September we have started registration of 5 GeV muon flux with the underground muon telescope. We registered 3 decreases of muon intensity correlated with Forbush decreases registered at lower energies. Variations of primary cosmic ray of energies up to about 100 GeV were responsible for our registrations. These set the upper limits for geometrical size of geomagnetic disturbances in interplanetary space. In construction and data interpretation of cosmic ray experiments, the Lodz group collaborates with many foreign institutes and laboratories: Forschungszentrum in Karlsruhe (Germany), College de France, Institute for Nuclear Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Uppsala University (Sweden). We have organised (together with the Physics Department of the University of Lodz) the 17 th European Cosmic Ray Symposium (24-?8 July 2000) in which about 150 physicists participated (about 100 from abroad). (author)

A new method for the reconstruction of very-high-energy gamma-ray spectra and application to galatic cosmic-ray accelerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandes, Milton Virgilio

2014-09-15

In this thesis, high-energy (HE; E>0.1 GeV) and very-high-energy (VHE; E>0.1 TeV) γ-ray data were investigated to probe Galactic stellar clusters (SCs) and star-forming regions (SFRs) as sites of hadronic Galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) acceleration. In principle, massive SCs and SFRs could accelerate GCRs at the shock front of the collective SC wind fed by the individual high-mass stars. The subsequently produced VHE γ rays would be measured with imaging air-Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). A couple of the Galactic VHE γ-ray sources, including those potentially produced by SCs, fill a large fraction of the field-of-view (FoV) and require additional observations of source-free regions to determine the dominant background for a spectral reconstruction. A new method of reconstructing spectra for such extended sources without the need of further observations is developed: the Template Background Spectrum (TBS). This methods is based on a method to generate skymaps, which determines background in parameter space. The idea is the creation of a look-up of the background normalisation in energy, zenith angle, and angular separation and to account for possible systematics. The results obtained with TBS and state-of-the-art background-estimation methods on H.E.S.S. data are in good agreement. With TBS even those sources could be reconstructed that normally would need further observations. Therefore, TBS is the third method to reconstruct VHE γ-ray spectra, but the first one to not need additional observations in the analysis of extended sources. The discovery of the largest VHE γ-ray source HESSJ1646-458 (2.2 in size) towards the SC Westerlund 1 (Wd1) can be plausibly explained by the SC-wind scenario. But owing to its size, other alternative counterparts to the TeV emission (pulsar, binary system, magnetar) were found in the FoV. Therefore, an association of HESSJ1646-458 with the SC is favoured, but cannot be confirmed. The SC Pismis 22 is located in the centre of the

A new method for the reconstruction of very-high-energy gamma-ray spectra and application to galatic cosmic-ray accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandes, Milton Virgilio

2014-09-01

In this thesis, high-energy (HE; E>0.1 GeV) and very-high-energy (VHE; E>0.1 TeV) γ-ray data were investigated to probe Galactic stellar clusters (SCs) and star-forming regions (SFRs) as sites of hadronic Galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) acceleration. In principle, massive SCs and SFRs could accelerate GCRs at the shock front of the collective SC wind fed by the individual high-mass stars. The subsequently produced VHE γ rays would be measured with imaging air-Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). A couple of the Galactic VHE γ-ray sources, including those potentially produced by SCs, fill a large fraction of the field-of-view (FoV) and require additional observations of source-free regions to determine the dominant background for a spectral reconstruction. A new method of reconstructing spectra for such extended sources without the need of further observations is developed: the Template Background Spectrum (TBS). This methods is based on a method to generate skymaps, which determines background in parameter space. The idea is the creation of a look-up of the background normalisation in energy, zenith angle, and angular separation and to account for possible systematics. The results obtained with TBS and state-of-the-art background-estimation methods on H.E.S.S. data are in good agreement. With TBS even those sources could be reconstructed that normally would need further observations. Therefore, TBS is the third method to reconstruct VHE γ-ray spectra, but the first one to not need additional observations in the analysis of extended sources. The discovery of the largest VHE γ-ray source HESSJ1646-458 (2.2 in size) towards the SC Westerlund 1 (Wd1) can be plausibly explained by the SC-wind scenario. But owing to its size, other alternative counterparts to the TeV emission (pulsar, binary system, magnetar) were found in the FoV. Therefore, an association of HESSJ1646-458 with the SC is favoured, but cannot be confirmed. The SC Pismis 22 is located in the centre of the

Dosimetry of environmental radiations (cosmic ray)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamasaki, Keizo

1978-01-01

Cosmic ray is dominant as environmental radiation, though the experimental determination made on cosmic ray doses is few in Japan. The free air ionization intensity at sea level due to cosmic ray has been estimated in the Bay of Wakasa, Japan, at middle geomagnetic latitude (25 deg. N), in October 1977. The ionization chambers used were two air and one argon types. Where the responses to cosmic and terrestrial gamma rays were equal, the ionization intensity due to cosmic ray was obtained by subtracting the ionization intensity due to terrestrial gamma ray from the total ionization intensity. As the terrestrial gamma ray, (1) U-238 series, Th-232 series, and K-40 in seawater, (2) K-40 in the material of a wooden ship, and (3) Rn-222 and its daughter products in the atmosphere were considered. The result of free air ionization due to cosmic ray with the argon chamber was slightly smaller than those with the other two air chambers; however, both were in good agreement within standard errors. (JPN.)

Time-dependent nonlinear cosmic ray shocks confirming abstract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorfi, E.A.

1985-01-01

Numerical studies of time dependent cosmic ray shock structures in planar geometry are interesting because analytical time-independent solutions are available which include the non-linear reactions on the plasma flow. A feature of these time asymptotic solutions is that for higher Mach numbers (M approximately 5) and for a low cosmic ray upstream pressure the solution is not uniquely determined by the usual conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy. These numerical solutions clearly indicate that much work needs to be done before we understand shock acceleration as a time dependent process. The slowness of the process is possibly due to the fact that there is a diffusive flux into the downstream region in addition to the usual advective losses. Analytic investigations of this phenomenon are required

Measurement of Cosmic-Ray TeV Electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Schubnell, Michael; Anderson, T.; Bower, C.; Coutu, S.; Gennaro, J.; Geske, M.; Mueller, D.; Musser, J.; Nutter, S.; Park, N.; Tarle, G.; Wakely, S.

2011-09-01

The Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope (CREST) high-altitude balloon experiment is a pathfinding effort to detect for the first time multi-TeV cosmic-ray electrons. At these energies distant sources will not contribute to the local electron spectrum due to the strong energy losses of the electrons and thus TeV observations will reflect the distribution and abundance of nearby acceleration sites. CREST will detect electrons indirectly by measuring the characteristic synchrotron photons generated in the Earth's magnetic field. The instrument consist of an array of 1024 BaF2 crystals viewed by photomultiplier tubes surrounded by a hermetic scintillator shield. Since the primary electron itself need not traverse the payload, an effective detection area is achieved that is several times the nominal 6.4 m2 instrument. CREST is scheduled to fly in a long duration circumpolar orbit over Antarctica during the 2011-12 season.

Cosmic rays and the search for a Lorentz Invariance Violation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bietenholz, Wolfgang, E-mail: wolbi@nucleares.unam.mx

2011-08-15

This is an introductory review about the ongoing search for a signal of Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) in cosmic rays. We first summarise basic aspects of cosmic rays, focusing on rays of ultrahigh energy (UHECRs). We discuss the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min (GZK) energy cutoff for cosmic protons, which is predicted due to photopion production in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This is a process of modest energy in the proton rest frame. It can be investigated to a high precision in the laboratory, if Lorentz transformations apply even at factors {gamma}{approx}O(10{sup 11}). For heavier nuclei, the energy attenuation is even faster due to photo-disintegration, again if this process is Lorentz invariant. Hence the viability of Lorentz symmetry up to tremendous {gamma}-factors-far beyond accelerator tests-is a central issue. Next, we comment on conceptual aspects of Lorentz Invariance and the possibility of its spontaneous breaking. This could lead to slightly particle dependent 'Maximal Attainable Velocities'. We discuss their effect in decays, Cerenkov radiation, the GZK cutoff and neutrino oscillation in cosmic rays. We also review the search for LIV in cosmic {gamma}-rays. For multi-TeV {gamma}-rays, we encounter another possible puzzle related to the transparency of the CMB, similar to the GZK cutoff, due to electron/positron creation and subsequent inverse Compton scattering. The photons emitted in a Gamma Ray Burst occur at lower energies, but their very long path provides access to information not that far from the Planck scale. We discuss conceivable nonlinear photon dispersions based on non-commutative geometry or effective approaches. No LIV has been observed so far. However, even extremely tiny LIV effects could change the predictions for cosmic ray physics drastically. An Appendix is devoted to the recent results by the Pierre Auger Collaboration, in particular the hypothesis that nearby Active Galactic Nuclei-or objects next to

Cosmic rays and the search for a Lorentz Invariance Violation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bietenholz, Wolfgang

2008-11-01

This is an introductory review about the on-going search for a signal of Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) in cosmic rays. We first summarise basic aspects of cosmic rays, focusing on rays of ultra high energy (UHECRs). We discuss the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min (GZK) energy cutoff for cosmic protons, which is predicted due to photopion production in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This is a process of modest energy in the proton rest frame. It can be investigated to a high precision in the laboratory, if Lorentz transformations apply even at factors γ ∝ O(10 11 ). For heavier nuclei the energy attenuation is even faster due to photo-disintegration, again if this process is Lorentz invariant. Hence the viability of Lorentz symmetry up to tremendous γ-factors - far beyond accelerator tests - is a central issue. Next we comment on conceptual aspects of Lorentz Invariance and the possibility of its spontaneous breaking. This could lead to slightly particle dependent ''Maximal Attainable Velocities''. We discuss their effect in decays, Cerenkov radiation, the GZK cutoff and neutrino oscillation in cosmic rays. We also review the search for LIV in cosmic γ-rays. For multi TeV γ-rays we possibly encounter another puzzle related to the transparency of the CMB, similar to the GZK cutoff, due to electron/positron creation and subsequent inverse Compton scattering. The photons emitted in a Gamma Ray Burst occur at lower energies, but their very long path provides access to information not far from the Planck scale. We discuss conceivable non-linear photon dispersions based on non-commutative geometry or effective approaches. No LIV has been observed so far. However, even extremely tiny LIV effects could change the predictions for cosmic ray physics drastically. An Appendix is devoted to the recent hypothesis by the Pierre Auger Collaboration, which identifies nearby Active Galactic Nuclei - or objects next to them - as probable UHECR sources. (orig.)

Cosmic rays and the search for a Lorentz Invariance Violation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bietenholz, Wolfgang [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen (Germany). John von Neumann-Inst. fuer Computing NIC

2008-11-15

This is an introductory review about the on-going search for a signal of Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) in cosmic rays. We first summarise basic aspects of cosmic rays, focusing on rays of ultra high energy (UHECRs). We discuss the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min (GZK) energy cutoff for cosmic protons, which is predicted due to photopion production in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This is a process of modest energy in the proton rest frame. It can be investigated to a high precision in the laboratory, if Lorentz transformations apply even at factors {gamma} {proportional_to} O(10{sup 11}). For heavier nuclei the energy attenuation is even faster due to photo-disintegration, again if this process is Lorentz invariant. Hence the viability of Lorentz symmetry up to tremendous {gamma}-factors - far beyond accelerator tests - is a central issue. Next we comment on conceptual aspects of Lorentz Invariance and the possibility of its spontaneous breaking. This could lead to slightly particle dependent ''Maximal Attainable Velocities''. We discuss their effect in decays, Cerenkov radiation, the GZK cutoff and neutrino oscillation in cosmic rays. We also review the search for LIV in cosmic {gamma}-rays. For multi TeV {gamma}-rays we possibly encounter another puzzle related to the transparency of the CMB, similar to the GZK cutoff, due to electron/positron creation and subsequent inverse Compton scattering. The photons emitted in a Gamma Ray Burst occur at lower energies, but their very long path provides access to information not far from the Planck scale. We discuss conceivable non-linear photon dispersions based on non-commutative geometry or effective approaches. No LIV has been observed so far. However, even extremely tiny LIV effects could change the predictions for cosmic ray physics drastically. An Appendix is devoted to the recent hypothesis by the Pierre Auger Collaboration, which identifies nearby Active Galactic Nuclei - or objects

Cosmic ray physics goes to school

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

With the help of a CERN physicist, German Schools bring the Largest Cosmic Ray Detector in Europe one step closer to reality   Eric Berthier and Robert Porret (CERN, ST/HM), Frej Torp and Christian Antfolk from the Polytechnics Arcada in Finland, and Karsten Eggert, physicist at CERN who initiated this project, during the installation of cosmic ray detectors in the Pays de Gex, at point 4. Niina Patrikainen and Frej Torp, Finnish students from Rovaniemi and Arcada Polytechnics, installing cosmic ray counters at the Fachhochschule in Duesseldorf. The science of cosmic ray detection is growing, literally. Cosmic rays, energetic particles from space, strike our planet all the time. They collide with the air molecules in our upper atmosphere and initiate large showers of elementary particles (mainly electrons, photons, hadrons and muons) which rain down upon the earth. The shower size and the particle density in the showers reflect the initial energy of the cosmic ray particle, a detail which makes d...

Field testing for cosmic ray soft errors in semiconductor memories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Gorman, T.J.; Ross, J.M.; Taber, A.H.; Ziegler, J.F.; Muhlfeld, H.P.; Montrose, C.J.; Curtis, H.W.; Walsh, J.L.

1996-01-01

This paper presents a review of experiments performed by IBM to investigate the causes of soft errors in semiconductor memory chips under field test conditions. The effects of alpha-particles and cosmic rays are separated by comparing multiple measurements of the soft-error rate (SER) of samples of memory chips deep underground and at various altitudes above the earth. The results of case studies on four different memory chips show that cosmic rays are an important source of the ionizing radiation that causes soft errors. The results of field testing are used to confirm the accuracy of the modeling and the accelerated testing of chips

Introduction to high energy cosmic ray physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Battistoni, G.; Grillo, A.F.

1995-01-01

After a few general qualitative considerations about the characteristics of primary cosmic rays arriving at the top of atmosphere, the fundamental concepts on their propagation and acceleration are discussed. The experimental situation, both from direct and indirect experiments, is presented, followed by a discussion on some concepts on hadronic interactions at high energy which are applied in a simplified and analytical model to the production of secondary particles in atmosphere

Evolution of cosmic ray fluxes during the rising phase of solar cycle 23: ULYSSES EPAC and COSPIN/KET observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heber, B.; Keppler, E.; Blake, J.B.; Fraenz, M.; Kunow, H.

2000-01-01

Galactic cosmic rays are entering the heliosphere from the interstellar medium, while anomalous cosmic rays are believed to be pickup ions accelerated at the heliospheric termination shock. Both particle species are modulated by the solar wind and the heliospheric magnetic field. Since 1997 solar activity increased and as a consequence the flux of galactic and anomalous cosmic ray decreased. In this paper we will discuss the variation of low energy anomalous cosmic rays as measured by the Ulysses Energetic Particle Composition Experiment (EPAC) and the Kiel Electron Telescope (KET) on board Ulysses. Specifically we are addressing the question: Are there differences in the modulation of galactic and anomalous cosmic rays and what are possible implication for the modulation of cosmic rays in the heliosphere?

Origin and propagation of galactic cosmic rays

Science.gov (United States)

Cesarsky, Catherine J.; Ormes, Jonathan F.

1987-01-01

The study of systematic trends in elemental abundances is important for unfolding the nuclear and/or atomic effects that should govern the shaping of source abundances and in constraining the parameters of cosmic ray acceleration models. In principle, much can be learned about the large-scale distributions of cosmic rays in the galaxy from all-sky gamma ray surveys such as COS-B and SAS-2. Because of the uncertainties in the matter distribution which come from the inability to measure the abundance of molecular hydrogen, the results are somewhat controversial. The leaky-box model accounts for a surprising amount of the data on heavy nuclei. However, a growing body of data indicates that the simple picture may have to be abandoned in favor of more complex models which contain additional parameters. Future experiments on the Spacelab and space station will hopefully be made of the spectra of individual nuclei at high energy. Antiprotons must be studied in the background free environment above the atmosphere with much higher reliability and presion to obtain spectral information.

Heavy ion beam test results of the silicon charge detector for the CREAM cosmic ray balloon mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, I.H.; Ahn, H.S.; Bok, J.B.; Ganel, O.; Hahn, J.H.; Han, W.; Hyun, H.J.; Kim, H.J.; Kim, M.Y.; Kim, Y.J.; Lee, J.K.; Lee, M.H.; Lutz, L.; Min, K.W.; Malinine, A.; Nam, S.W.; Nam, W.; Park, H.; Park, N.H.; Seo, E.S.; Seon, K.I.; Sone, J.H.; Yang, J.; Zinn, S.Y.

2004-01-01

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment is designed to measure cosmic ray elemental spectra to help understand the source and acceleration mechanisms of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. The payload is planned to launch in December 2004 from McMurdo Station, Antarctica as a balloon mission. A Silicon Charge Detector (SCD) was designed and constructed for the CREAM experiment to provide precision charge measurements of incident cosmic rays with a resolution of 0.2 charge unit or better. The SCD was exposed to heavy ion beams at CERN's H2 beam line in November 2003. The results reported here show the SCD performs as designed

Heavy ion beam test results of the silicon charge detector for the CREAM cosmic ray balloon mission

CERN Document Server

Park, I H; Bok, J B; Ganel, O; Hahn, J H; Han, W; Hyun, H J; Kim, H J; Kim, M Y; Kim, Y J; Lee, J K; Lutz, L; Malinine, A; Min, K W; Nam, S W; Nam, W; Park, H; Park, N H; Seo, E S; Seon, K I; Sone, J H; Yang, J; Zinn, S Y

2004-01-01

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment is designed to measure cosmic ray elemental spectra to help understand the source and acceleration mechanisms of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. The payload is planned to launch in December 2004 from McMurdo Station, Antarctica as a balloon mission. A Silicon Charge Detector (SCD) was designed and constructed for the CREAM experiment to provide precision charge measurements of incident cosmic rays with a resolution of 0.2 charge unit or better. The SCD was exposed to heavy ion beams at CERN's H2 beam line in November 2003. The results reported here show the SCD performs as designed.

Simulation of cosmic ray interaction at Saturne

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michel, R.

1996-01-01

Accelerator experiments provide the basis for the development of physical models describing the production of cosmogenic nuclides by cosmic ray particles. Here, experiments are presented by which the irradiation of stony and iron meteoroids in space by galactic cosmic ray protons was successfully simulated; two thick spherical targets made of gabbro and of steel with radii of 25 and 10 cm, respectively, were isotropically irradiated with 1.6 GeV protons at LNS. The artificial meteoroids contained large numbers of individual small targets of up to 27 elements in which the depth-dependent production of radioactive and stable nuclides was analyzed by model calculations based on depth-dependent spectra of primary and secondary particles calculated by the HERMES code system and on experimental and theoretical thin-target cross sections. Due to the results of the two simulation experiments at LNS a consistent modelling of cosmogenic nuclide production rates in stony and iron meteorites was achieved for the first time which allows to interpret the observed abundances of cosmogenic nuclides in stony and iron meteorites with respect to their exposure histories and to describe the history of the cosmic radiation itself. (author)

Coronal and interplanetary propagation, interplanetary acceleration, cosmic-ray observations by deep space network and anomalous component

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ng, C.K.

1986-01-01

The purpose is to provide an overview of the contributions presented in sessions SH3, SH1.5, SH4.6 and SH4.7 of the 19th International Cosmic Ray Conference. These contributed papers indicate that steady progress continues to be made in both the observational and the theoretical aspects of the transport and acceleration of energetic charged particles in the heliosphere. Studies of solar and interplanetary particles have placed emphasis on particle directional distributions in relation to pitch-angle scattering and magnetic focusing, on the rigidity and spatial dependence of the mean free path, and on new propagation regimes in the inner and outer heliosphere. Coronal propagation appears in need of correlative multi-spacecraft studies in association with detailed observation of the flare process and coronal magnetic structures. Interplanetary acceleration has now gone into a consolidation phase, with theories being worked out in detail and checked against observation

Coronal and interplanetary propagation, interplanetary acceleration, cosmic-ray observations by deep space network and anomalous component

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, C. K.

1986-01-01

The purpose is to provide an overview of the contributions presented in sessions SH3, SH1.5, SH4.6 and SH4.7 of the 19th International Cosmic Ray Conference. These contributed papers indicate that steady progress continues to be made in both the observational and the theoretical aspects of the transport and acceleration of energetic charged particles in the heliosphere. Studies of solar and interplanetary particles have placed emphasis on particle directional distributions in relation to pitch-angle scattering and magnetic focusing, on the rigidity and spatial dependence of the mean free path, and on new propagation regimes in the inner and outer heliosphere. Coronal propagation appears in need of correlative multi-spacecraft studies in association with detailed observation of the flare process and coronal magnetic structures. Interplanetary acceleration has now gone into a consolidation phase, with theories being worked out in detail and checked against observation.

Gamma-ray astronomy and cosmic-ray origin theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ginzburg, V.L.

1973-01-01

A theory of the origin of cosmic radiation is discussed in light of the advances made in gamma-ray astronomy. Arguments against metagalactic models for the origin of cosmic rays are emphasized. (U.S.)

Cosmic rays and global warming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erlykin, A.D. [P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation); Sloan, T. [Lancaster University (United Kingdom); Wolfendale, A.W. [Durham University (United Kingdom)

2010-07-01

The possible effects of cosmic rays on clouds could contribute to global warming. The argument is that the observed increased solar activity during the last century caused a decrease in the ionization due to cosmic rays since the lower energy cosmic particles are deflected by the magnetic field created by the increasing solar wind. This would lead to a decrease in cloud cover allowing more heating of the earth by the sun. Meteorological data combined to solar activity observations and simulations show that any effect of solar activity on clouds and the climate is likely to be through irradiance rather than cosmic rays. Since solar irradiance transfers 8 orders of magnitude more energy to the atmosphere than cosmic rays it is more plausible that this can produce a real effect. The total contribution of variable solar activity to global warming is shown to be less than 14% of the total temperature rise. (A.C.)

COMPARISON OF COSMIC-RAY ENVIRONMENTS ON EARTH, MOON, MARS AND IN SPACECARFT USING PHITS.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Tatsuhiko; Nagamatsu, Aiko; Ueno, Haruka; Kataoka, Ryuho; Miyake, Shoko; Takeda, Kazuo; Niita, Koji

2017-09-29

Estimation of cosmic-ray doses is of great importance not only in aircrew and astronaut dosimetry but also in evaluation of background radiation exposure to public. We therefore calculated the cosmic-ray doses on Earth, Moon and Mars as well as inside spacecraft, using Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System PHITS. The same cosmic-ray models and dose conversion coefficients were employed in the calculation to properly compare between the simulation results for different environments. It is quantitatively confirmed that the thickness of physical shielding including the atmosphere and soil of the planets is the most important parameter to determine the cosmic-ray doses and their dominant contributors. The comparison also suggests that higher solar activity significantly reduces the astronaut doses particularly for the interplanetary missions. The information obtained from this study is useful in the designs of the future space missions as well as accelerator-based experiments dedicated to cosmic-ray research. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Primary cosmic ray flux

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stanev, Todor

2001-05-01

We discuss the primary cosmic ray flux from the point of view of particle interactions and production of atmospheric neutrinos. The overall normalization of the cosmic ray flux and its time variations and site dependence are major ingredients of the atmospheric neutrino predictions and the basis for the derivation of the neutrino oscillation parameters.

Cosmic Ray Physics with ACORDE at LHC

CERN Document Server

Pagliarone, C.

2008-01-01

The use of large underground high-energy physics experiments, for comic ray studies, have been used, in the past, at CERN, in order to measure, precisely, the inclusive cosmic ray flux in the energy range from 2x10^10 - 2x10^12 eV. ACORDE, ALICE Cosmic Rays DEtector, will act as Level 0 cosmic ray trigger and, together with other ALICE apparatus, will provide precise information on cosmic rays with primary energies around 10^15 - 10^17 eV. This paper reviews the main detector features, the present status, commissioning and integration with other apparatus. Finally, we discuss the ACORDE-ALICE cosmic ray physics program.

Cosmic ray physics with ACORDE at LHC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pagliarone, C; Fernandez-Tellez, A

2008-01-01

The use of large underground high-energy physics experiments, for comic ray studies, have been used, in the past, at CERN, in order to measure, precisely, the inclusive cosmic ray flux in the energy range from 2·10 10 to 2· 10 12 eV. ACORDE, ALICE Cosmic Rays DEtector, will act as Level 0 cosmic ray trigger and, together with other ALICE apparatus, will provide precise information on cosmic rays with primary energies around 10 15 to 10 17 eV. This paper reviews the main detector features, the present status, commissioning and integration with other apparatus. Finally, we discuss the ACORDE-ALICE cosmic ray physics program

Cosmic-ray acceleration and gamma-ray signals from radio supernovæ

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marcowith, A.; Renaud, M. [Laboratoire Univers et particules de Montpellier, Université Montpellier II/CNRS, place E. Bataillon, cc072, 34095 Montpellier (France); Dwarkadas, V. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637 (United States); Tatischeff, V. [Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière, IN2P3/CNRS and Univ Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay (France)

2014-11-15

Core collapse supernovae (SNe) are among the most extreme events in the universe. The are known to harbor among the fastest (but non- or midly-relativistic) shock waves. Once it has crossed the stellar atmosphere, the SN blast wave expands in the wind of the massive star progenitor. In type IIb SNe, the progenitor is likely a Red SuperGiant (RSG) star which has a large mass loss rate and a slow stellar wind producing a very dense circumstellar medium. A high velocity shock and a high density medium are both key ingredients to initiate fast particle acceleration, and fast growing instabilities driven by the acceleration process itself. We have reanalyzed the efficiency of particle acceleration at the forward shock right after the SN outburst for the particular case of the well-known SN 1993J. We find that plasma instabilities driven by the energetic particles accelerated at the shock front grow over intraday timescales. This growth, and the interplay of non-linear process, permit a fast amplification of the magnetic field at the shock, that can explain the magnetic field strengths deduced from the radio monitoring of the source. The maximum particle energy is found to reach 1–10 PeV depending on the instability dominating the amplification process. We derive the time dependent particle spectra and the associated hadronic signatures of secondary particles (gamma-ray, leptons and neutrinos) arising from proton proton interactions. We find that the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) should easily detect objects like SN 1993J in particular above 1 TeV, while current generation of Cherenkov telescopes such as H.E.S.S. could only marginaly detect such events. The gamma-ray signal is found to be heavily absorbed by pair production process during the first week after the outburst. We predict a low neutrino flux above 10 TeV, implying a detectability horizon with a KM3NeT-type telescope of 1 Mpc only. We finally discuss the essential parameters that control the particle

ROLE OF LINE-OF-SIGHT COSMIC-RAY INTERACTIONS IN FORMING THE SPECTRA OF DISTANT BLAZARS IN TeV GAMMA RAYS AND HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRINOS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Essey, Warren; Kusenko, Alexander; Kalashev, Oleg; Beacom, John F.

2011-01-01

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can produce both gamma rays and cosmic rays. The observed high-energy gamma-ray signals from distant blazars may be dominated by secondary gamma rays produced along the line of sight by the interactions of cosmic-ray protons with background photons. This explains the surprisingly low attenuation observed for distant blazars, because the production of secondary gamma rays occurs, on average, much closer to Earth than the distance to the source. Thus, the observed spectrum in the TeV range does not depend on the intrinsic gamma-ray spectrum, while it depends on the output of the source in cosmic rays. We apply this hypothesis to a number of sources and, in every case, we obtain an excellent fit, strengthening the interpretation of the observed spectra as being due to secondary gamma rays. We explore the ramifications of this interpretation for limits on the extragalactic background light and for the production of cosmic rays in AGNs. We also make predictions for the neutrino signals, which can help probe the acceleration of cosmic rays in AGNs.

Measurement of cosmic-ray muons with the Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory, a network of smartphones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vandenbroucke, J.; Bravo, S.; Karn, P.; Meehan, M.; Plewa, M.; Schultz, D.; Tosi, D.; BenZvi, S.; Jensen, K.; Peacock, J.; Ruggles, T.; Santander, M.; Simons, A.L.

2016-01-01

Solid-state camera image sensors can be used to detect ionizing radiation in addition to optical photons. We describe the Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory (DECO), an app and associated public database that enables a network of consumer devices to detect cosmic rays and other ionizing radiation. In addition to terrestrial background radiation, cosmic-ray muon candidate events are detected as long, straight tracks passing through multiple pixels. The distribution of track lengths can be related to the thickness of the active (depleted) region of the camera image sensor through the known angular distribution of muons at sea level. We use a sample of candidate muon events detected by DECO to measure the thickness of the depletion region of the camera image sensor in a particular consumer smartphone model, the HTC Wildfire S. The track length distribution is fit better by a cosmic-ray muon angular distribution than an isotropic distribution, demonstrating that DECO can detect and identify cosmic-ray muons despite a background of other particle detections. Using the cosmic-ray distribution, we measure the depletion thickness to be 26.3 ± 1.4 μm. With additional data, the same method can be applied to additional models of image sensor. Once measured, the thickness can be used to convert track length to incident polar angle on a per-event basis. Combined with a determination of the incident azimuthal angle directly from the track orientation in the sensor plane, this enables direction reconstruction of individual cosmic-ray events using a single consumer device. The results simultaneously validate the use of cell phone camera image sensors as cosmic-ray muon detectors and provide a measurement of a parameter of camera image sensor performance which is not otherwise publicly available

Cosmic ray physics with ACORDE at LHC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pagliarone, C [Universita degli Studi di Cassino and INFN Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo, 3 - Pisa (Italy); Fernandez-Tellez, A [Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla (Mexico)], E-mail: pagliarone@fnal.gov

2008-05-15

The use of large underground high-energy physics experiments, for comic ray studies, have been used, in the past, at CERN, in order to measure, precisely, the inclusive cosmic ray flux in the energy range from 2{center_dot}10{sup 10} to 2{center_dot} 10{sup 12} eV. ACORDE, ALICE Cosmic Rays DEtector, will act as Level 0 cosmic ray trigger and, together with other ALICE apparatus, will provide precise information on cosmic rays with primary energies around 10{sup 15} to 10{sup 17} eV. This paper reviews the main detector features, the present status, commissioning and integration with other apparatus. Finally, we discuss the ACORDE-ALICE cosmic ray physics program.

COSMIC-RAY TRANSPORT AND ANISOTROPIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Biermann, Peter L. [MPI for Radioastronomy, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Becker Tjus, Julia; Mandelartz, Matthias [Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Fakultaet fuer Physik and Astronomie, Theoretische Physik I, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Seo, Eun-Suk [Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)

2013-05-10

We show that the large-scale cosmic-ray anisotropy at {approx}10 TeV can be explained by a modified Compton-Getting effect in the magnetized flow field of old supernova remnants. Cosmic rays arrive isotropically to the flow field and are then carried along with the flow to produce a large-scale anisotropy in the arrival direction. This approach suggests an optimum energy scale for detecting the anisotropy. Two key assumptions are that propagation is based on turbulence following a Kolmogorov law and that cosmic-ray interactions are dominated by transport via cosmic-ray-excited magnetic irregularities through the stellar wind of an exploding star and its shock shell. A prediction is that the amplitude is smaller at lower energies due to incomplete sampling of the velocity field and also smaller at larger energies due to smearing.

Cosmic ray investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zatsepin, Georgii T; Roganova, Tat'yana M

2009-01-01

The history of cosmic ray research at the Lebedev Institute beginning with the first work and continuing up to now is reviewed. The milestones and main avenues of research are outlined. Pioneering studies on the nuclear cascade process in extensive air showers, investigations of the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation, and some work on the origin of cosmic rays are discussed. Recent data on ultrahigh-energy particle detection at the Pierre Auger Observatory and the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) experiments are presented. (conferences and symposia)

Cosmic rays, clouds and climate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svensmark, Henrik [Danish Space Research Institute, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark)

2007-07-01

Changes in the intensity of galactic cosmic rays seems alter the Earth's cloudiness. A recent experiment has shown how electrons liberated by cosmic rays assist in making aerosols, the building blocks of cloud condensation nuclei, while anomalous climatic trends in Antarctica confirm the role of clouds in helping to drive climate change. Variations in the cosmic-ray influx due to solar magnetic activity account well for climatic fluctuations on decadal, centennial and millennial timescales. Over longer intervals, the changing galactic environment of the Solar System has had dramatic consequences, including Snowball Earth episodes.

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics; Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2003-01-01

Full text: Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the area of high-energy physics and cosmic ray physics related to: - Experimental and phenomenological studies of Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic ray particles. - Studies of ultra-high energy (above 10 19 eV) cosmic rays: determination of energy spectrum and mass composition of primary particles - Studies of asymptotic properties of hadronic interactions based on the analysis of cosmic ray propagation through the atmosphere. - Studies of mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 - 10 17 eV. - Registration of cosmic ray intensity variation correlated with solar activity. Theoretical and experimental studies of Extensive Air Shower properties are performed mostly basing on the results obtained by the Lodz Extensive Air Shower Array. We have noticed unexplainable delayed signals registered about 500-900 microseconds after the main EAS pulse. Neutron transport simulations were performed in collaboration with JINR in Dubna. We prepared hardware for further experimental study of this effect. Continuous registrations of 5 GeV muon flux with the underground muon telescope have been carried on over the year 2001. We have detected several changes of muon intensity correlated with Forbush decreases registered at lower energies. We have also started registrations of muon counting rate in the on-surface scintillation detectors. These measurements will be included to the analysis of the disturbed energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays and its dependence on interplanetary disturbances related to the solar activity. In construction and data interpretation of cosmic ray experiments the Lodz group collaborates with many foreign institutes and laboratories: Forschungszentrum in Karlsruhe (Germany), College de France, Institute for Nuclear Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, JINR in Dubna (Russia), Uppsala University (Sweden) and DESY (Germany). We have prepared a

Department of Cosmic Ray Physics: Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2002-01-01

Full text:The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the area of high-energy physics and cosmic ray physics related to: * Experimental and phenomenological studies of Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic ray particles. * Studies of ultra-high energy (above 10 19 eV) cosmic rays: determination of energy spectrum and mass composition of primary particles * Studies of asymptotic properties of hadronic interactions based on the analysis of cosmic ray propagation through the atmosphere. * Studies of mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 -10 17 eV. * Registration of cosmic ray intensity variation correlated with solar activity. Theoretical and experimental studies of Extensive Air Shower properties are performed mostly based on the results obtained by the Lodz Extensive Air Shower Array. We have noticed unexplainable delayed signals registered about 500-900 microseconds after the main EAS pulse. We prepared hardware for further experimental study of this effect. Continuous registrations of 5 GeV muon flux with the underground muon telescope have been carried on during 2001. We detected several changes of muon intensity correlated with Forbush decreases registered at lower energies. We have also started registration of the muon counting rate in on-surface scintillation detectors. These measurements will be included to the analysis of the disturbed energy spectrum of primary cosmic rays and its dependence on interplanetary disturbances related to solar activity. In construction and data interpretation of cosmic ray experiments the Lodz group collaborates with many foreign institutes and laboratories: Forschungszentrum in Karlsruhe (Germany), College de France, Institute for Nuclear Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Uppsala University (Sweden) and DESY (Germany). We have prepared a project of large air shower array for studies of cosmic rays up to 10 20 eV. Detectors would be placed on the roofs of high

Long-lived sources of solar cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullan, D.J.

1979-01-01

The high correlation between prompt solar cosmic rays and a flare-induced MHD shock is well known. We point out that the propagation properties of such a shock cause shock heating of the solar atmosphere to be confined to a unipolar magnetic region. As a result, if particles can be accelerated within the shock-processed part of the corona, the fluxes of suc particles will exhibit sharp spatial gradients near quiescent filaments. The passage of an MHD shock leads to the rapid collapse of magnetic neutral regions which prior to shock passage were collapsing too slowly to accelerate particles. We suggest that these newly triggered magnetic acceleration regions provide a third phase of solar flare acceleration regions provide a third phase of solar flare acceleration which may persist for many days after a flare. Collapsing magnetic regions with lengths scales of order 100 km can explain a variety of coronal phenomena

Multi-spectra Cosmic Ray Flux Measurement

Science.gov (United States)

He, Xiaochun; Dayananda, Mathes

2010-02-01

The Earth's upper atmosphere is constantly bombarded by rain of charged particles known as primary cosmic rays. These primary cosmic rays will collide with the atmospheric molecules and create extensive secondary particles which shower downward to the surface of the Earth. In recent years, a few studies have been done regarding to the applications of the cosmic ray measurements and the correlations between the Earth's climate conditions and the cosmic ray fluxes [1,2,3]. Most of the particles, which reach to the surface of the Earth, are muons together with a small percentage of electrons, gammas, neutrons, etc. At Georgia State University, multiple cosmic ray particle detectors have been constructed to measure the fluxes and energy distributions of the secondary cosmic ray particles. In this presentation, we will briefly describe these prototype detectors and show the preliminary test results. Reference: [1] K.Borozdin, G.Hogan, C.Morris, W.Priedhorsky, A.Saunders, L.Shultz, M.Teasdale, Nature, Vol.422, 277 (2003). [2] L.V. Egorova, V. Ya Vovk, O.A. Troshichev, Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics 62, 955-966 (2000). [3] Henrik Svensmark, Phy. Rev. Lett. 81, 5027 (1998). )

The distribution of cosmic rays in the galaxy and their dynamics as deduced from recent gamma ray observations. [noting maximum in toroidal region between 4 and 5 kpc from galactic center

Science.gov (United States)

Puget, J. L.; Stecker, F. W.

1974-01-01

Data from SAS-2 on the galactic gamma ray line flux as a function of longitude is examined. It is shown that the gamma ray emissivity varies with galactocentric distance and is about an order of magnitude higher than the local value in a toroidal region between 4 and 5 kpc from the galactic center. This enhancement is accounted for in part by first-order Fermi acceleration, compression, and trapping of cosmic rays consistent with present ideas of galactic dynamics and galactic structure theory. Calculations indicate that cosmic rays in the 4 to 5 kpc region are trapped and accelerated over a mean time of the order of a few million years or about 2 to 4 times the assumed trapping time in the solar region of the galaxy on the assumption that only an increased cosmic ray flux is responsible for the observed emission. Cosmic ray nucleons, cosmic ray electrons, and ionized hydrogen gas were found to have a strikingly similar distribution in the galaxy according to both the observational data and the theoretical model discussed.

Proceedings of the 21. European Cosmic Ray Symposium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiraly, P.; Kudela, K.; Wolfendale, A. W.

2008-09-01

Scientific symposium deals with problems of cosmic ray. The Symposium included the following sessions: (1): Relationship of cosmic rays to the environment; (2) Energetic particles and the magnetosphere of the Earth; (3) Energetic particles in the heliosphere; (4) Solar-terrestrial effects on different time scales; (5) Cosmic rays below the knee; (6) Cosmic rays above the knee (7) High energy interactions; (8) GeV and TeV gamma ray astronomy; (9) European projects related to cosmic rays; Future perspectives. Proceedings contains 122 papers dealing with the scope of INIS.

Diffuse gamma-ray emission from self-confined cosmic rays around Galactic sources

Science.gov (United States)

D'Angelo, Marta; Morlino, Giovanni; Amato, Elena; Blasi, Pasquale

2018-02-01

The propagation of particles accelerated at supernova remnant shocks and escaping the parent remnants is likely to proceed in a strongly non-linear regime, due to the efficient self-generation of Alfvén waves excited through streaming instability near the sources. Depending on the amount of neutral hydrogen present in the regions around the sites of supernova explosions, cosmic rays may accumulate an appreciable grammage in the same regions and get self-confined for non-negligible times, which in turn results in an enhanced rate of production of secondaries. Here we calculate the contribution to the diffuse gamma-ray background due to the overlap along lines of sight of several of these extended haloes as due to pion production induced by self-confined cosmic rays. We find that if the density of neutrals is low, the haloes can account for a substantial fraction of the diffuse emission observed by Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT), depending on the orientation of the line of sight with respect to the direction of the Galactic Centre.

Predicting Proton-Air Cross Sections at {radical}(s) {approx} 30 TeV Using Accelerator and Cosmic Ray Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Block, M. M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States); Halzen, Francis [Physics Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States); Stanev, Todor [Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 (United States)

1999-12-13

We use the high-energy predictions of a QCD-inspired parametrization of all accelerator data on forward proton-proton and antiproton-proton scattering amplitudes, along with Glauber theory, to predict proton-air cross sections at energies near {radical}(s){approx_equal}30 TeV . The parametrization of the proton-proton cross section incorporates analyticity and unitarity and demands that the asymptotic proton is a black disk of soft partons. By comparing with the p -air cosmic ray measurements, our analysis results in a constraint on the inclusive particle production cross section. (c) 1999 The American Physical Society.

High Energy Cosmic Electrons: Messengers from Nearby Cosmic Ray Sources or Dark Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Moiseev, Alexander

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the recent discoveries by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope in reference to high energy cosmic electrons, and whether their source is cosmic rays or dark matter. Specific interest is devoted to Cosmic Ray electrons anisotropy,

Multi-TeV gamma ray and cosmic ray astrophysics with TAIGA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tluczykont, Martin [Hamburg Univ. (Germany). Institut fuer Experimentalphysik; Collaboration: TAIGA Kollaboration

2016-07-01

The very high energy gamma-ray regime is the key to several questions in high energy astrophysics, the most prominent being the search for the origin of cosmic rays. Observations of gamma rays up to several 100 TeV are particularly important to spectrally resolve the cutoff regime of the long-sought Pevatrons, the accelerators of PeV cosmic rays. TAIGA is an international collaboration that has, in the past 3 years, installed the air Cherenkov timing array HiSCORE on an area of 0.25 square-km, and are currently installing a first 4m diameter imaging air Cherenkov telescope (IACT), to be operated in parallel with the timing array. Our aim is to combine the timing and imaging techniques on a large scale in order to optimize the air Cherenkov detection technique for energies above 10 TeV and up to several 100 TeV. Simulations show a clear potential of the planned hybrid event reconstruction, especially in the energy regime from 10 TeV to 100 TeV. The TAIGA experiment will be complemented by scintillator based particle detectors for a measurement of the muon content of the air shower at higher energies. The status of our experiment and the planned 1 square-km stage of TAIGA are discussed.

Cosmic ray production curves below reworking zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanford, G.E.

1980-01-01

A method is presented for calculating cosmic ray production profiles below reworking zones. The method uses an input reworking depth determined from data such as signatures in the depth profile of ferromagnetic resonance intensity and input cosmic ray production profiles for an undisturbed surface. Reworking histories are simulated using Monte Carlo techniques, and depth profiles are used to determine cosmic ray exposure age limits with a specified probability. It is shown that the track density profiles predict cosmic ray exposure ages in lunar cores that are consistent with values determined by other methods. Results applied to neutron fluence and spallation rare gases eliminate the use of reworking depth as an adjustable parameter and give cosmic ray exposure ages that are compatible with each other

Irradiated ISM : Discriminating between cosmic rays and X-rays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijerink, R.; Spaans, M.; Israel, F. P.

2006-01-01

The interstellar medium ( ISM) at the centers of active galaxies is exposed to a combination of cosmic-ray, far-ultraviolet (FUV), and X-ray radiation. We apply photodissociation region (PDR) models to this ISM with both "normal" and highly elevated (5 x 10(-15) s(-1)) cosmic- ray (CR) rates and

High energy emission of supernova sn 1987a. Cosmic rays acceleration in mixed shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehoucq, Roland

1992-01-01

In its first part, this research thesis reports the study of the high energy emission of the sn 1987 supernova, based on a Monte Carlo simulation of the transfer of γ photons emitted during disintegration of radioactive elements (such as "5"6Ni, "5"6Co, "5"7Co and "4"4Ti) produced during the explosion. One of the studied problems is the late evolution (beyond 1200 days) of light curvature which is very different when it is powered by the radiation of a central object or by radioactivity. The second part reports the study of acceleration of cosmic rays in two-fluid shock waves in order to understand the different asymmetries noticed in hot spots of extragalactic radio-sources. This work comprises the resolution of structure equations of a shock made of a conventional fluid and a relativistic one, in presence or absence of a magnetic field [fr

Hydromagnetic shock structure in the presence of cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drury, L.O.; Voelk, H.J.

1981-01-01

The time asymptotic structure of a shock significantly modified by the back-reaction from the diffusive acceleration of cosmic rays is investigated. Making a physically plausible assumption about the diffusion, it is shown that for given upstream conditions and shock speed only a finite odd number of shock structures are possible; an explicit method of determining these is given (in many cases the solution is unique). The results of this nonlinear study are contrasted with those of the linear test-particle theory and shown to confirm the possibility of efficient particle acceleration in shocks

Cosmic Rays in Intermittent Magnetic Fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shukurov, Anvar; Seta, Amit; Bushby, Paul J.; Wood, Toby S.; Snodin, Andrew P.

2017-01-01

The propagation of cosmic rays in turbulent magnetic fields is a diffusive process driven by the scattering of the charged particles by random magnetic fluctuations. Such fields are usually highly intermittent, consisting of intense magnetic filaments and ribbons surrounded by weaker, unstructured fluctuations. Studies of cosmic-ray propagation have largely overlooked intermittency, instead adopting Gaussian random magnetic fields. Using test particle simulations, we calculate cosmic-ray diffusivity in intermittent, dynamo-generated magnetic fields. The results are compared with those obtained from non-intermittent magnetic fields having identical power spectra. The presence of magnetic intermittency significantly enhances cosmic-ray diffusion over a wide range of particle energies. We demonstrate that the results can be interpreted in terms of a correlated random walk.

Cosmic Rays in Intermittent Magnetic Fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shukurov, Anvar; Seta, Amit; Bushby, Paul J.; Wood, Toby S. [School of Mathematics and Statistics, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom); Snodin, Andrew P., E-mail: a.seta1@ncl.ac.uk, E-mail: amitseta90@gmail.com [Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok 10800 (Thailand)

2017-04-10

The propagation of cosmic rays in turbulent magnetic fields is a diffusive process driven by the scattering of the charged particles by random magnetic fluctuations. Such fields are usually highly intermittent, consisting of intense magnetic filaments and ribbons surrounded by weaker, unstructured fluctuations. Studies of cosmic-ray propagation have largely overlooked intermittency, instead adopting Gaussian random magnetic fields. Using test particle simulations, we calculate cosmic-ray diffusivity in intermittent, dynamo-generated magnetic fields. The results are compared with those obtained from non-intermittent magnetic fields having identical power spectra. The presence of magnetic intermittency significantly enhances cosmic-ray diffusion over a wide range of particle energies. We demonstrate that the results can be interpreted in terms of a correlated random walk.

Contribution from individual nearby sources to the spectrum of high-energy cosmic-ray electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sedrati, R.; Attallah, R.

2014-01-01

In the last few years, very important data on high-energy cosmic-ray electrons and positrons from high-precision space-born and ground-based experiments have attracted a great deal of interest. These particles represent a unique probe for studying local comic-ray accelerators because they lose energy very rapidly. These energy losses reduce the lifetime so drastically that high-energy cosmic-ray electrons can attain the Earth only from rather local astrophysical sources. This work aims at calculating, by means of Monte Carlo simulation, the contribution from some known nearby astrophysical sources to the cosmic-ray electron/positron spectra at high energy (≥10GeV). The background to the electron energy spectrum from distant sources is determined with the help of the GALPROP code. The obtained numerical results are compared with a set of experimental data

Contribution from individual nearby sources to the spectrum of high-energy cosmic-ray electrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sedrati, R., E-mail: rafik.sedrati@univ-annaba.org; Attallah, R.

2014-04-01

In the last few years, very important data on high-energy cosmic-ray electrons and positrons from high-precision space-born and ground-based experiments have attracted a great deal of interest. These particles represent a unique probe for studying local comic-ray accelerators because they lose energy very rapidly. These energy losses reduce the lifetime so drastically that high-energy cosmic-ray electrons can attain the Earth only from rather local astrophysical sources. This work aims at calculating, by means of Monte Carlo simulation, the contribution from some known nearby astrophysical sources to the cosmic-ray electron/positron spectra at high energy (≥10GeV). The background to the electron energy spectrum from distant sources is determined with the help of the GALPROP code. The obtained numerical results are compared with a set of experimental data.

A Shifting Shield Provides Protection Against Cosmic Rays

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-12-01

The Sun plays an important role in protecting us from cosmic rays, energetic particles that pelt us from outside our solar system. But can we predict when and how it will provide the most protection, and use this to minimize the damage to both pilotedand roboticspace missions?The Challenge of Cosmic RaysSpacecraft outside of Earths atmosphere and magnetic field are at risk of damage from cosmic rays. [ESA]Galactic cosmic rays are high-energy, charged particles that originate from astrophysical processes like supernovae or even distant active galactic nuclei outside of our solar system.One reason to care about the cosmic rays arriving near Earth is because these particles can provide a significant challenge for space missions traveling above Earths protective atmosphere and magnetic field. Since impacts from cosmic rays can damage human DNA, this risk poses a major barrier to plans for interplanetary travel by crewed spacecraft. And roboticmissions arent safe either: cosmic rays can flip bits, wreaking havoc on spacecraft electronics as well.The magnetic field carried by the solar wind provides a protective shield, deflecting galactic cosmic rays from our solar system. [Walt Feimer/NASA GSFCs Conceptual Image Lab]Shielded by the SunConveniently, we do have some broader protection against galactic cosmic rays: a built-in shield provided by the Sun. The interplanetary magnetic field, which is embedded in the solar wind, deflects low-energy cosmic rays from us at the outer reaches of our solar system, decreasing the flux of these cosmic rays that reach us at Earth.This shield, however, isnt stationary; instead, it moves and changes as the strength and direction of the solar wind moves and changes. This results in a much lower cosmic-ray flux at Earth when solar activity is high i.e., at the peak of the 11-year solar cycle than when solar activity is low. This visible change in local cosmic-ray flux with solar activity is known as solar modulation of the cosmic ray flux

How can we protect astronauts from cosmic rays?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parker, E.

2006-01-01

Interplanetary astronauts would absorb more radiation in a single year than radiation workers are supposed to receive in a lifetime and as a consequence large number of them would develop radiation-related illnesses like cancer, cataract or would suffer from brain damage. In recognition to radiation threats, Nasa set up the space radiation shielding program in 2003. The first idea was to protect the astronauts by surrounding them with matter, by analogy of the earth's atmosphere but the problem of such a shield is its weight: the required mass would be at least 400 tons. The second proposal was to deflect the cosmic rays magnetically but the deflection of particles that have energies up to 2 GeV requires a magnetic field 600.000 times as strong as earth's equatorial field. Strong magnetic field may itself be dangerous. A more recent idea has been to give the spacecraft a positive charge which would repel any incoming positively charged nucleus. The drawback is that the ship will attract and accelerate negatively charged particles over distances as long as a few tens of thousands of kilometers. The result would be that the natural cosmic-ray flux would be replaced with a much more intense artificial one. At the present time the different solutions for protecting the astronauts from cosmic rays give little encouragement. (A.C.)

Department of Cosmic Radiation Physics - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gawin, J.

1997-01-01

Full text: The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the area of high energy physics and cosmic ray physics related to: -Studies of the asymptotic properties of hadronic interactions from the analysis of cosmic ray propagation in the atmosphere. -Studies of structure and properties of Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic ray particles. -Search for point sources of high energy cosmic rays. -Studies of cosmic ray propagation in the Galaxy and mechanisms of particle acceleration. -Studies of the mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 -10 17 eV. Theoretical and experimental studies of nuclear interactions for energies exceeding those obtained by modern particle accelerators are performed employing results obtained by the Lodz Extensive Air Shower Array. The Lodz hodoscope can register electromagnetic components of cosmic ray showers in the atmosphere as well as muons at two energy thresholds. Data collected by the Lodz array are also used to study mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 - 10 17 eV. The Lodz group collaborates with foreign institutes and laboratories on construction and data interpretation of cosmic ray experiments. Our most important partners are: Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Germany), College de France, the Institute for Nuclear Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the University of Durham, and the University of Perpignan. (author)

Cosmic-ray anisotropy studies with IceCube

Science.gov (United States)

McNally, Frank

2014-03-01

The IceCube neutrino observatory detects tens of billions of energetic muons per year produced by cosmic-ray interactions with the atmosphere. The size of this sample has allowed IceCube to observe a significant anisotropy in arrival direction for cosmic rays with median energies between 20 and 400 TeV. This anisotropy is characterized by a large scale structure of per-mille amplitude accompanied by structures with smaller amplitudes and with typical angular sizes between 10° and 20°. IceTop, the surface component of IceCube, has observed a similar anisotropy in the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays, extending the study to PeV energies. The better energy resolution of IceTop allows for additional studies of the anisotropy, for example a comparison of the energy spectrum in regions of a cosmic-ray excess or deficit to the rest of the sky. We present an update on the cosmic-ray anisotropy observed with IceCube and IceTop and the results of first studies of the energy spectrum at locations of cosmic-ray excess or deficit.

Cosmic Rays and Clouds, 1. Formation of Lead Mesoatoms In Neutron Monitor By Soft Negative Muons and Expected Atmospheric Electric Field Effect In The Cosmic Ray Neutron Component

Science.gov (United States)

Dorman, L. I.; Dorman, I. V.

We extend our model (Dorman and Dorman, 1995) of cosmic ray atmospheric electric field effect on the case of neutron monitor. We take into account that about 0.07 of neu- tron monitor counting rate caused by negative soft muons captured by lead nucleons and formed mesoatoms with generation of several MeV energy neutrons from lead. In this case the neutron monitor or neutron supermonitor works as analyzer which de- tects muons of only one, negative sign. It is very important because the atmospheric electric field effect have opposite signs for positive and negative muons that main part of this effect in the muon telescope or in ionization chamber is compensated and we can observe only small part of total effect of one sign muons. On the basis of our gen- eral theory of cosmic ray meteorological effects with taking into account of negative soft muon acceleration and deceleration in the Earth atmosphere (in dependence of di- rection and intensity of electric field) we discuss the possibility of existing this effect in cosmic ray neutron component and made some rough estimations. REFERENCES: Dorman L.I. and Dorman I.V., 1995. "Cosmic-ray atmospheric electric field effects". Canadian J. of Physics, Vol. 73, pp. 440-443.

Empirical model for the Earth's cosmic ray shadow at 400 KM: prohibited cosmic ray access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humble, J.E.; Smart, D.F.; Shea, M.A.

1985-01-01

The possibility of constructing a unit sphere of access that describes the cosmic radiation allowed to an Earth-orbiting spacecraft is discussed. It is found that it is possible to model the occluded portion of the cosmic ray sphere of access as a circular projection with a diameter bounded by the satellite-Earth horizon. Maintaining tangency at the eastern edge of the spacecraft-Earth horizon, this optically occluded area is projected downward by an angle beta which is a function of the magnetic field inclination and cosmic ray arrival direction. This projected plane, corresponding to the forbidden area of cosmic ray access, is bounded by the spacecraft-Earth horizon in easterly directions, and is rotated around the vertical axis by an angle alpha from the eastern direction, where the angle alpha is a function of the offset dipole latitude of the spacecraft

Cosmic ray modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal Mishra, Rekha; Mishra, Rajesh Kumar

2016-07-01

Propagation of cosmic rays to and inside the heliosphere, encounter an outward moving solar wind with cyclic magnetic field fluctuation and turbulence, causing convection and diffusion in the heliosphere. Cosmic ray counts from the ground ground-based neutron monitors at different cut of rigidity show intensity changes, which are anti-correlated with sunspot numbers. They also lose energy as they propagate towards the Earth and experience various types of modulations due to different solar activity indices. In this work, we study the first three harmonics of cosmic ray intensity on geo-magnetically quiet days over the period 1965-2014 for Beijing, Moscow and Tokyo neutron monitoring stations located at different cut off rigidity. The amplitude of first harmonic remains high for low cutoff rigidity as compared to high cutoff rigidity on quiet days. The diurnal amplitude significantly decreases during solar activity minimum years. The diurnal time of maximum significantly shifts to an earlier time as compared to the corotational direction having different cutoff rigidities. The time of maximum for first harmonic significantly shifts towards later hours and for second harmonic it shifts towards earlier hours at low cutoff rigidity station as compared to the high cut off rigidity station on quiet days. The amplitude of second/third harmonics shows a good positive correlation with solar wind velocity, while the others (i.e. amplitude and phase) have no significant correlation on quiet days. The amplitude and direction of the anisotropy on quiet days does not show any significant dependence on high-speed solar wind streams for these neutron monitoring stations of different cutoff rigidity threshold. Keywords: cosmic ray, cut off rigidity, quiet days, harmonics, amplitude, phase.

Low-energy cosmic rays in the Orion region

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pohl, M.

1998-01-01

The recently observed nuclear gamma-ray line emission from the Orion complex implies a high flux of low-energy cosmic rays (LECR) with unusual abundance. This cosmic ray component would dominate the energy density, pressure, and ionising power of cosmic rays, and thus would have a strong impact...

A two-zone cosmic ray propagation model and its implication of the surviving fraction of radioactive cosmic ray isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, M.; Scherzer, R.; Enge, W.

1977-01-01

In cosmic ray propagation calculations one can usually assume a homogeneous distribution of interstellar matter. The crucial astrophysical parameters in these models are: The path length distribution, the age of the cosmic ray particles and the interstellar matter density. These values are interrelated. The surviving fraction of radioactive cosmic ray isotopes is often used to determine a mean matter density of that region, where the cosmic ray particles may mainly reside. Using a Monte Carlo Propagation Program we calculated the change in the surviving fraction quantitatively assuming a region around the sources with higher matter density. (author)

Department of Cosmic Radiation Physics: Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gawin, J.

1998-01-01

(full text) The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the area of high energy physics and cosmic ray physics related to: -Studies of asymptotic properties of hadronic interactions based on the analysis of cosmic ray propagation in the atmosphere. -Studies of the structure and properties of Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic ray particles. - Search for point sources of high energy cosmic rays. - Studies of cosmic ray propagation in the Galaxy and mechanisms of particle acceleration. - Studies of mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range l0 15 -10 17 eV. Theoretical and experimental studies of nuclear interactions for energies exceeding those obtained by modern particle accelerators are performed based on the results obtained by the Lodz Extensive Air Shower Array. The Lodz hodoscope can register the electromagnetic component of cosmic ray showers developing in the atmosphere as well as muons of two energy thresholds. Data collected by the Lodz array are also used to study the mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 -10 17 eV. The Lodz group collaborates with many foreign institutes and laboratories in construction and data interpretation of cosmic ray experiments. Our most important partners are: Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Germany), College de' France, the Institute for Nuclear Studies of the Russian Academy of Science, the University of Perpignan (France) and Uppsala University (Sweden). (author)

Cosmic Rays and Climate

CERN Document Server

Kirkby, Jasper

2007-01-01

Among the most puzzling questions in climate change is that of solar-climate variability, which has attracted the attention of scientists for more than two centuries. Until recently, even the existence of solar-climate variability has been controversial—perhaps because the observations had largely involved correlations between climate and the sunspot cycle that had persisted for only a few decades. Over the last few years, however, diverse reconstructions of past climate change have revealed clear associations with cosmic ray variations recorded in cosmogenic isotope archives, providing persuasive evidence for solar or cosmic ray forcing of the climate. However, despite the increasing evidence of its importance, solar-climate variability is likely to remain controversial until a physical mechanism is established. Although this remains a mystery, observations suggest that cloud cover may be influenced by cosmic rays, which are modulated by the solar wind and, on longer time scales, by the geomagnetic fiel...

High energy neutrinos from astrophysical accelerators of cosmic ray nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Anchordoqui, Luis A.; Hooper, Dan; Sarkar, Subir; Taylor, Andrew M.

2008-02-01

Ongoing experimental efforts to detect cosmic sources of high energy neutrinos are guided by the expectation that astrophysical accelerators of cosmic ray protons would also generate neutrinos through interactions with ambient matter and/or photons. However, there will be a reduction in the predicted neutrino flux if cosmic ray sources accelerate not only protons but also significant numbers of heavier nuclei, as is indicated by recent air shower data. We consider plausible extragalactic sources such as active galactic nuclei, gamma ray bursts and starburst galaxies and demand consistency with the observed cosmic ray composition and energy spectrum at Earth after allowing for propagation through intergalactic radiation fields. This allows us to calculate the expected neutrino fluxes from the sources, normalized to the observed cosmic ray spectrum. We find that the likely signals are still within reach of next generation neutrino telescopes such as IceCube.PACS95.85.Ry98.70.Rz98.54.Cm98.54.EpReferencesFor a review, see:F.HalzenD.HooperRep. Prog. Phys.6520021025A.AchterbergIceCube CollaborationPhys. Rev. Lett.972006221101A.AchterbergIceCube CollaborationAstropart. Phys.262006282arXiv:astro-ph/0611063arXiv:astro-ph/0702265V.NiessANTARES CollaborationAIP Conf. Proc.8672006217I.KravchenkoPhys. Rev. D732006082002S.W.BarwickANITA CollaborationPhys. Rev. Lett.962006171101V.Van ElewyckPierre Auger CollaborationAIP Conf. Proc.8092006187For a survey of possible sources and event rates in km3 detectors see e.g.,W.BednarekG.F.BurgioT.MontaruliNew Astron. Rev.4920051M.D.KistlerJ.F.BeacomPhys. Rev. D742006063007A. Kappes, J. Hinton, C. Stegmann, F.A. Aharonian, arXiv:astro-ph/0607286.A.LevinsonE.WaxmanPhys. Rev. Lett.872001171101C.DistefanoD.GuettaE.WaxmanA.LevinsonAstrophys. J.5752002378F.A.AharonianL.A.AnchordoquiD.KhangulyanT.MontaruliJ. Phys. Conf. Ser.392006408J.Alvarez-MunizF.HalzenAstrophys. J.5762002L33F.VissaniAstropart. Phys.262006310F

Anomalous Galactic Cosmic Rays in the Framework of AMS-02

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khiali, Behrouz [National Central University (NCU), ChungLi, Tao Yuan, 32054, Taiwan (China); Haino, Sadakazu; Feng, Jie, E-mail: behrouz.khiali@cern.ch [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan (China)

2017-02-01

The cosmic-ray (CR) energy spectra of protons and helium nuclei, which are the most abundant components of cosmic radiation, exhibit a remarkable hardening at energies above 100 GeV/nucleon. Recent data from AMS-02 confirm this feature with a higher significance. These data challenge the current models of CR acceleration in Galactic sources and propagation in the Galaxy. Here, we explain the observed break in the spectra of protons and helium nuclei in light of recent advances in CR diffusion theories in turbulent astrophysical sources as being a result of a transition between different CR diffusion regimes. We reconstruct the observed CR spectra using the fact that a transition from normal diffusion to superdiffusion changes the efficiency of particle acceleration and causes the change in the spectral index. We find that calculated proton and helium spectra match the data very well.

Cosmic gamma-ray background radiation. Current understandings and problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, Yoshiyuki

2015-01-01

The cosmic gamma-ray background radiation is one of the most fundamental observables in the gamma-ray band. Although the origin of the cosmic gamma-ray background radiation has been a mystery for a long time, the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope has recently measured it at 0.1-820 GeV and revealed that the cosmic GeV gamma-ray background is composed of blazars, radio galaxies, and star-forming galaxies. However, Fermi still leaves the following questions. Those are dark matter contribution, origins of the cosmic MeV gamma-ray background, and the connection to the IceCube TeV-PeV neutrino events. In this proceeding, I will review the current understandings of the cosmic gamma-ray background and discuss future prospects of cosmic gamma-ray background radiation studies. (author)

Are gamma-ray bursts the sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baerwald, Philipp

2014-07-01

We reconsider the possibility that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the sources of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) within the internal shock model, assuming a pure proton composition of the UHECRs. For the first time, we combine the information from gamma-rays, cosmic rays, prompt neutrinos, and cosmogenic neutrinos quantitatively in a joint cosmic ray production and propagation model, and we show that the information on the cosmic energy budget can be obtained as a consequence. In addition to the neutron model, we consider alternative scenarios for the cosmic ray escape from the GRBs, i.e., that cosmic rays can leak from the sources. We find that the dip model, which describes the ankle in UHECR observations by the pair production dip, is strongly disfavored in combination with the internal shock model because (a) unrealistically high baryonic loadings (energy in protons versus energy in electrons/gamma-rays) are needed for the individual GRBs and (b) the prompt neutrino flux easily overshoots the corresponding neutrino bound. On the other hand, GRBs may account for the UHECRs in the ankle transition model if cosmic rays leak out from the source at the highest energies. In that case, we demonstrate that future neutrino observations can efficiently test most of the parameter space - unless the baryonic loading is much larger than previously anticipated.

Progress in high-energy cosmic ray physics

Science.gov (United States)

Mollerach, S.; Roulet, E.

2018-01-01

We review some of the recent progress in our knowledge about high-energy cosmic rays, with an emphasis on the interpretation of the different observational results. We discuss the effects that are relevant to shape the cosmic ray spectrum and the explanations proposed to account for its features and for the observed changes in composition. The physics of air-showers is summarized and we also present the results obtained on the proton-air cross section and on the muon content of the showers. We discuss the cosmic ray propagation through magnetic fields, the effects of diffusion and of magnetic lensing, the cosmic ray interactions with background radiation fields and the production of secondary neutrinos and photons. We also consider the cosmic ray anisotropies, both at large and small angular scales, presenting the results obtained from the TeV up to the highest energies and discuss the models proposed to explain their origin.

LHCf sheds new light on cosmic rays

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2011-01-01

The energy spectrum of the single photon obtained using data from the LHCf experiment has turned out to be very different from that predicted by the theoretical models used until now to describe the interactions between very high-energy cosmic rays and the earth's atmosphere. The consequences of this discrepancy for cosmic ray studies could be significant.   Artistic impression of cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere. (Credit: Asimmetrie/Infn). It took physicists by surprise when analysis of the data collected by the two LHCf calorimeters in 2010 showed that high-energy cosmic rays don't interact with the atmosphere in the manner predicted by theory. The LHCf detectors, set up 140 metres either side of the ATLAS interaction point, are dedicated to the study of the secondary particles emitted at very small angles during proton-proton collisions in the LHC, with energies comparable to cosmic rays entering the earth's atmosphere at 2.5x1016 eV. The aim of the experiment is to r...

Radiography with cosmic-ray and compact accelerator muons; Exploring inner-structure of large-scale objects and landforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagamine, Kanetada

2016-01-01

Cosmic-ray muons (CRM) arriving from the sky on the surface of the earth are now known to be used as radiography purposes to explore the inner-structure of large-scale objects and landforms, ranging in thickness from meter to kilometers scale, such as volcanic mountains, blast furnaces, nuclear reactors etc. At the same time, by using muons produced by compact accelerators (CAM), advanced radiography can be realized for objects with a thickness in the sub-millimeter to meter range, with additional exploration capability such as element identification and bio-chemical analysis. In the present report, principles, methods and specific research examples of CRM transmission radiography are summarized after which, principles, methods and perspective views of the future CAM radiography are described.

Cosmological consistency tests of gravity theory and cosmic acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Ishak-Boushaki, Mustapha B.

2017-01-01

Testing general relativity at cosmological scales and probing the cause of cosmic acceleration are among the important objectives targeted by incoming and future astronomical surveys and experiments. I present our recent results on consistency tests that can provide insights about the underlying gravity theory and cosmic acceleration using cosmological data sets. We use statistical measures, the rate of cosmic expansion, the growth rate of large scale structure, and the physical consistency of these probes with one another.

A constraint on prompt supernova cosmic ray production from γ-ray observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morfill, G.E.; Drury, L.O'C.

1981-01-01

The consequences of prompt cosmic ray production intrinsic to supernovae are examined for supernova explosions occurring in dense molecular clouds. For reasonable parameters it is shown that prompt cosmic ray production cannot exceed 10 48 erg per supernova. This suggests that cosmic ray production takes place mainly in the intercloud medium. (author)

Cosmic rays and Earth's climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensmark, Henrik

2000-01-01

During the last solar cycle the Earth's cloud cover underwent a modulation in phase with the cosmic ray flux. Assuming that there is a causal relationship between the two, it is expected and found that the Earth's temperature follows more closely decade variations in cosmic ray flux than other...... solar activity parameters. If the relationship is real the state of the Heliosphere affects the Earth's climate....

Cosmic Ray Interactions in Shielding Materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguayo Navarrete, Estanislao; Kouzes, Richard T.; Ankney, Austin S.; Orrell, John L.; Berguson, Timothy J.; Troy, Meredith D.

2011-01-01

This document provides a detailed study of materials used to shield against the hadronic particles from cosmic ray showers at Earth's surface. This work was motivated by the need for a shield that minimizes activation of the enriched germanium during transport for the MAJORANA collaboration. The materials suitable for cosmic-ray shield design are materials such as lead and iron that will stop the primary protons, and materials like polyethylene, borated polyethylene, concrete and water that will stop the induced neutrons. The interaction of the different cosmic-ray components at ground level (protons, neutrons, muons) with their wide energy range (from kilo-electron volts to giga-electron volts) is a complex calculation. Monte Carlo calculations have proven to be a suitable tool for the simulation of nucleon transport, including hadron interactions and radioactive isotope production. The industry standard Monte Carlo simulation tool, Geant4, was used for this study. The result of this study is the assertion that activation at Earth's surface is a result of the neutronic and protonic components of the cosmic-ray shower. The best material to shield against these cosmic-ray components is iron, which has the best combination of primary shielding and minimal secondary neutron production.

Exploring the cosmic rays energy frontier with the Auger Observatory

CERN Document Server

CERN. Geneva

2006-01-01

The existence of cosmic rays with energies in excess of 1020 eV represents a longstanding scientific mystery. Unveileing the mechanism and source of production/acceleration of particles of such enormous energies is a challenging experimental task due to their minute flux, roughly one km2 century. The Pierre Auger Observatory, now nearing completion in Malargue, Mendoza Province, Argentina, is spread over an area of 3000 km2. Two techniques are employed to observe the cosmic ray showers: detection of the shower particles on the ground and detection of fluorescence light produced as the shower particles pass through the atmosphere. I will describe the status of the Observatory and its detectors, and early results from the data recorded while the observatory is reaching its completion.Organiser(s): L. Alvarez-Gaume / PH-THNote: * Tea & coffee will be served at 16:00.

Lightning Discharges, Cosmic Rays and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sanjay; Siingh, Devendraa; Singh, R. P.; Singh, A. K.; Kamra, A. K.

2018-03-01

The entirety of the Earth's climate system is continuously bombarded by cosmic rays and exhibits about 2000 thunderstorms active at any time of the day all over the globe. Any linkage among these vast systems should have global consequences. Numerous studies done in the past deal with partial links between some selected aspects of this grand linkage. Results of these studies vary from weakly to strongly significant and are not yet complete enough to justify the physical mechanism proposed to explain such links. This review is aimed at presenting the current understanding, based on the past studies on the link between cosmic ray, lightning and climate. The deficiencies in some proposed links are pointed out. Impacts of cosmic rays on engineering systems and the possible effects of cosmic rays on human health are also briefly discussed. Also enumerated are some problems for future work which may help in developing the grand linkage among these three vast systems.

On the Energy Spectra of GeV/TeV Cosmic Ray Leptons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stawarz, Lukasz; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Jagiellonian U., Astron. Observ.; Petrosian, Vahe; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /Stanford U., Phys. Dept. /Stanford U., Appl. Phys. Dept.; Blandford, Roger D.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park

2011-08-19

Recent observations of cosmic ray electrons from several instruments have revealed various degrees of deviation in the measured electron energy distribution from a simple power-law, in a form of an excess around 0.1 to 1 TeV energies. An even more prominent deviation and excess has been observed in the fraction of cosmic ray positrons around 10 and 100 GeV energies. These observations have received considerable attention and many theoretical models have been proposed to explain them. The models rely on either dark matter annihilation/decay or specific nearby astrophysical sources, and involve several additional assumptions regarding the dark matter distribution or particle acceleration. In this paper we show that the observed excesses in the electron spectrum may be easily reproduced without invoking any unusual sources other than the general diffuse Galactic components of cosmic rays. The model presented here assumes a power-law injection of electrons (and protons) by supernova remnants, and evaluates their expected energy spectrum based on a simple kinetic equation describing the propagation of charged particles in the interstellar medium. The primary physical effect involved is the Klein-Nishina suppression of the electron cooling rate around TeV energies. With a very reasonable choice of the model parameters characterizing the local interstellar medium, we can reproduce the most recent observations by Fermi and HESS experiments. Interestingly, in our model the injection spectral index of cosmic ray electrons becomes comparable to, or even equal to that of cosmic ray protons. The Klein-Nishina effect may also affect the propagation of the secondary e{sup {+-}} pairs, and therefore modify the cosmic ray positron-to-electron ratio. We have explored this possibility by considering two mechanisms for production of e{sup {+-}} pairs within the Galaxy. The first is due to the decay of {pi}{sup {+-}}'s produced by interaction of cosmic ray nuclei with ambient

Large vessel imaging using cosmic-ray muons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenneson, P.M.

2004-01-01

Cosmic-ray muons are assessed for their practical use in the tomographic imaging of the internal composition of large vessels over 2 m in diameter. The technique is based on the attenuation and scattering of cosmic-ray muons passing through a vessel and has advantages over photon-based methods of tomography that it is extendable to object containing high-density materials over many tens of metres. The main disadvantage is the length of time required to produce images of sufficient resolution and hence cosmic ray muon tomography will be most suited to the imaging of large structures whose internal composition is effectively static for the duration of the imaging period. Simulation and theoretical results are presented here which demonstrate the feasibility of cosmic ray muon tomography

Cosmic ray antimatter and baryon symmetric cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Stecker, F. W.; Protheroe, R. J.; Kazanas, D.

1982-01-01

The relative merits and difficulties of the primary and secondary origin hypotheses for the observed cosmic-ray antiprotons, including the new low-energy measurement of Buffington, et al. We conclude that the cosmic-ray antiproton data may be evidence for antimatter galaxies and baryon symmetric cosmology. The present bar P data are consistent with a primary extragalactic component having /p=/equiv 1+/- 3.2/0.7x10 = to the -4 independent of energy. We propose that the primary extragalactic cosmic ray antiprotons are most likely from active galaxies and that expected disintegration of bar alpha/alpha ban alpha/alpha. We further predict a value for ban alpha/alpha =/equiv 10 to the -5, within range of future cosmic ray detectors.

Solar flares and the cosmic ray intensity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatton, C.J.

1980-01-01

The relationship between the cosmic ray intensity and solar activity during solar cycle 20 is discussed. A model is developed whereby it is possible to simulate the observed cosmic ray intensity from the observed number of solar flares of importance >= 1. This model leads to a radius for the modulation region of 60-70 AU. It is suggested that high speed solar streams also made a small contribution to the modulation of cosmic rays during solar cycle 20. (orig.)

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays and prompt TeV gamma rays from ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

physics pp. 789-792. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays and prompt. TeV gamma rays from gamma ray bursts ... The origin of the observed ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) events with ... are proton and electron rest mass, respectively.

MAGNETIC FIELDS AND COSMIC RAYS IN GRBs: A SELF-SIMILAR COLLISIONLESS FORESHOCK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medvedev, Mikhail V.; Zakutnyaya, Olga V.

2009-01-01

Cosmic rays accelerated by a shock form a streaming distribution of outgoing particles in the foreshock region. If the ambient fields are negligible compared to the shock and cosmic ray energetics, a stronger magnetic field can be generated in the shock upstream via the streaming (Weibel-type) instability. Here we develop a self-similar model of the foreshock region and calculate its structure, e.g., the magnetic field strength, its coherence scale, etc., as a function of the distance from the shock. Our model indicates that the entire foreshock region of thickness ∼R/(2Γ 2 sh ), being comparable to the shock radius in the late afterglow phase when Γ sh ∼ 1, can be populated with large-scale and rather strong magnetic fields (of subgauss strengths with the coherence length of order 10 16 cm) compared with the typical interstellar medium magnetic fields. The presence of such fields in the foreshock region is important for high efficiency of Fermi acceleration at the shock. Radiation from accelerated electrons in the foreshock fields can constitute a separate emission region radiating in the UV/optical through radio band, depending on time and shock parameters. We also speculate that these fields being eventually transported into the shock downstream can greatly increase radiative efficiency of a gamma-ray burst afterglow shock.

Feasibility study on a cosmic-ray level gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, H.; Fukaya, M.; Minato, S.

1989-01-01

Cosmic-ray intensities were measured at the stairs in a subway station in Nagoya City, inside a tall concrete building and under a cylindrical water tank, to examine the feasibility of a cosmic-ray level gauge. The measured results agreed quite well with the theoretical calculations. These results show that a cosmic-ray level gauge is feasible. (author)

Half a century of cosmic x-ray research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makishima, Kazuo; Takahashi, Tadayuki

2012-01-01

The year of 2012, which is the centennial of the cosmic-ray discovery, happens to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources. First carried by cosmic-ray physicists, the study of cosmic X-rays has made explosive developments over the last half a century, and has established the X-ray wavelength as an indispensable window onto the Universe. Among a variety of X-ray emitting celestial objects, we choose here neutron stars as a representative, and review the 50 years connecting the dawn era of the research and the state-of-the-art ASTRO-H satellite to be launched in 2014. In this article, 'X-rays' mean energetic photons with energies from 0.1 keV up to a few hundreds keV. (author)

Aerosols Produced by Cosmic Rays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enghoff, Martin Andreas Bødker

an experiment in order to investigate the underlying microphysical processes. The results of this experiment will help to understand whether ionization from cosmic rays, and by implication the related processes in the universe, has a direct influence on Earth’s atmosphere and climate. Since any physical...... mechanism linking cosmic rays to clouds and climate is currently speculative, there have been various suggestions of the role atmospheric ions may play; these involve any one of a number of processes from the nucleation of aerosols up to the collection processes of cloud droplets. We have chosen to start......Satellite observations have shown that the Earth’s cloud cover is strongly correlated with the galactic cosmic ray flux. While this correlation is indicative of a possible physical connection, there is currently no confirmation that a physical mechanism exists. We are therefore setting up...

Cosmic rays, clouds, and climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marsh, N.; Svensmark, Henrik

2000-01-01

cloud radiative properties. Thus, a moderate influence on atmospheric aerosol distributions from cosmic ray ionisation would have a strong influence on the Earth's radiation budget. Historical evidence over the past 1000 years indicates that changes in climate have occurred in accord with variability......A correlation between a global average of low cloud cover and the flux of cosmic rays incident in the atmosphere has been observed during the last solar cycle. The ionising potential of Earth bound cosmic rays are modulated by the state of the heliosphere, while clouds play an important role...... in the Earth's radiation budget through trapping outgoing radiation and reflecting incoming radiation. If a physical link between these two features can be established, it would provide a mechanism linking solar activity and Earth's climate. Recent satellite observations have further revealed a correlation...

Cosmic-ray-modified stellar winds. III. A numerical iterative approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, C.M.; Jokipii, J.R.; Webb, G.M.

1988-01-01

A numerical iterative method is used to determine the modification of a stellar wind flow with a termination shock by the galactic cosmic rays. A two-fluid model consisting of cosmic rays and thermal stellar wind gas is used in which the cosmic rays are coupled to the background flow via scattering with magnetohydrodynamic waves or irregularities. A polytropic model is used to describe the thermal stellar wind gas, and the cosmic-rays are modeled as a hot, low-density gas with negligible mass flux. The positive galactic cosmic-ray pressure gradient serves to brake the outflowing stellar wind gas, and the cosmic rays modify the location of the critical point of the wind, the location of the shock, the wind fluid velocity profile, and the thermal gas entropy constants on both sides of the shock. The transfer of energy to the cosmic rays results in an outward radial flux of cosmic-ray energy. 21 references

Educational Cosmic Ray Arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soluk, R. A.

2006-01-01

In the last decade a great deal of interest has arisen in using sparse arrays of cosmic ray detectors located at schools as a means of doing both outreach and physics research. This approach has the unique advantage of involving grade school students in an actual ongoing experiment, rather then a simple teaching exercise, while at the same time providing researchers with the basic infrastructure for installation of cosmic ray detectors. A survey is made of projects in North America and Europe and in particular the ALTA experiment at the University of Alberta which was the first experiment operating under this paradigm

Cosmic Rays and Extensive Air Showers

CERN Document Server

Stanev, Todor

2010-01-01

We begin with a brief introduction of the cosmic ray energy spectrum and its main features. At energies higher than 105 GeV cosmic rays are detected by the showers they initiate in the atmosphere. We continues with a brief description of the energy spectrum and composition derived from air shower data.

Cosmic rays at ultra high energies (Neutrinos.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahlers, M.; Ringwald, A.; Tu, H.

2005-06-01

Resonant photopion production with the cosmic microwave background predicts a suppression of extragalactic protons above the famous Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff at about E GZK ∼ 5 x 10 10 GeV. Current cosmic ray data measured by the AGASA and HiRes Collaborations do not unambiguously confirm the GZK cutoff and leave a window for speculations about the origin and chemical composition of the highest energy cosmic rays. In this work we analyze the possibility of strongly interacting neutrino primaries and derive model-independent quantitative requirements on the neutrino-nucleon inelastic cross section for a viable explanation of the cosmic ray data. Search results on weakly interacting cosmic particles from the AGASA and RICE experiments are taken into account simultaneously. Using a flexible parameterization of the inelastic neutrino-nucleon cross section we find that a combined fit of the data does not favor the Standard Model neutrino-nucleon inelastic cross section, but requires, at 90% confidence level, a steep increase within one energy decade around E GZK by four orders of magnitude. We illustrate such an enhancement within some extensions of the Standard Model. The impact of new cosmic ray data or cosmic neutrino search results on this scenario, notably from the Pierre Auger Observatory soon, can be immediately evaluated within our approach. (orig.)

One century of cosmic rays – A particle physicist's view

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sutton Christine

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Experiments on cosmic rays and the elementary particles share a common history that dates back to the 19th century. Following the discovery of radioactivity in the 1890s, the paths of the two fields intertwined, especially during the decades after the discovery of cosmic rays. Experiments demonstrated that the primary cosmic rays are positively charged particles, while other studies of cosmic rays revealed various new sub-atomic particles, including the first antiparticle. Techniques developed in common led to the birth of neutrino astronomy in 1987 and the first observation of a cosmic γ-ray source by a ground-based cosmic-ray telescope in 1989.

X-ray emission of the hot gas and of accelerated particles in supernova remnants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acero, F.

2008-09-01

The current observations seem to support the theory that the shock wave of supernova remnants accelerate electrons (representing about 1% of cosmic rays) of the interstellar medium up to energies of about 10 15 eV. However there is still no solid evidence that supernova remnants also accelerate protons (major component of cosmic rays). The X-ray observations of those supernova remnants with the satellite XMM-Newton can provide crucial information on the acceleration mechanisms and on this population of accelerated particles. This thesis presents the X-ray analysis of the supernova remnants RX J1713.7-3946 and SN 1006 for which it has been shown that they accelerate electrons efficiently. As a result, these objects are very good targets to compare the theoretical models of acceleration to the observation. For the first object, I constructed through new XMM-Newton observations, the first high-angular resolution mosaic of the entire supernova remnant. I then compared the X- and gamma-ray emission of this object in order to understand the nature of the gamma-ray emission. This spectral and morphological comparison allowed me to discuss the two possible origins of the gamma-ray radiation (issued by electrons or by protons). For SN 1006, I studied the density of the ambient medium in which the shock wave propagates. This density is a key parameter for the hydrodynamical evolution of the remnant and for studying a future gamma-ray emission. The study of X-ray emission of the gas heated by the shock wave allowed me to better estimate of the value of the density so far poorly constrained for this object. (author)

Cosmic rays and radiations from the cosmos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parizot, E.

2005-12-01

This document gathers a lot of recent information concerning cosmic radiations, it is divided into 4 parts. Part I: energy, mass and angular spectra of cosmic rays. Part II: general phenomenology of cosmic rays, this part deals with the standard model, the maximal energy of protons inside supernova remnants, nucleosynthesis of light elements, and super-bubbles. Part III: radiations from the cosmos, this part deals with high energy gamma rays, non-thermal radiation of super-bubbles, positron transport, and the Compton trail of gamma-ray bursts. Part IV: the Pierre Auger observatory (OPA), this part deals with the detection of gamma ray bursts at OPA, the measurement of anisotropy, and top-down models. (A.C.)

COSMOS: the COsmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Zreda

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The newly-developed cosmic-ray method for measuring area-average soil moisture at the hectometer horizontal scale is being implemented in the COsmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (or the COSMOS. The stationary cosmic-ray soil moisture probe measures the neutrons that are generated by cosmic rays within air and soil and other materials, moderated by mainly hydrogen atoms located primarily in soil water, and emitted to the atmosphere where they mix instantaneously at a scale of hundreds of meters and whose density is inversely correlated with soil moisture. The COSMOS has already deployed more than 50 of the eventual 500 cosmic-ray probes, distributed mainly in the USA, each generating a time series of average soil moisture over its horizontal footprint, with similar networks coming into existence around the world. This paper is written to serve a community need to better understand this novel method and the COSMOS project. We describe the cosmic-ray soil moisture measurement method, the instrument and its calibration, the design, data processing and dissemination used in the COSMOS project, and give example time series of soil moisture obtained from COSMOS probes.

Structure formation cosmic rays: Identifying observational constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prodanović T.

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Shocks that arise from baryonic in-fall and merger events during the structure formation are believed to be a source of cosmic rays. These "structure formation cosmic rays" (SFCRs would essentially be primordial in composition, namely, mostly made of protons and alpha particles. However, very little is known about this population of cosmic rays. One way to test the level of its presence is to look at the products of hadronic reactions between SFCRs and the ISM. A perfect probe of these reactions would be Li. The rare isotope Li is produced only by cosmic rays, dominantly in αα → 6Li fusion reactions with the ISM helium. Consequently, this nuclide provides a unique diagnostic of the history of cosmic rays. Exactly because of this unique property is Li affected most by the presence of an additional cosmic ray population. In turn, this could have profound consequences for the Big-Bang nucleosynthesis: cosmic rays created during cosmic structure formation would lead to pre-Galactic Li production, which would act as a "contaminant" to the primordial 7Li content of metalpoor halo stars. Given the already existing problem of establishing the concordance between Li observed in halo stars and primordial 7Li as predicted by the WMAP, it is crucial to set limits to the level of this "contamination". However, the history of SFCRs is not very well known. Thus we propose a few model-independent ways of testing the SFCR species and their history, as well as the existing lithium problem: 1 we establish the connection between gamma-ray and Li production, which enables us to place constraints on the SFCR-made lithium by using the observed Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background (EGRB; 2 we propose a new site for testing the primordial and SFCR-made lithium, namely, low-metalicity High-Velocity Clouds (HVCs, which retain the pre-Galactic composition without any significant depletion. Although using one method alone may not give us strong constraints, using them in

The Cosmic Ray Tracking (CRT) detector system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernloehr, K.; Gamp, S.; Hermann, G.; Hofmann, W.; Kihm, T.; Knoeppler, J.; Leffers, G.; Matheis, V.; Panter, M.; Trunk, U.; Ulrich, M.; Wolf, T.; Zink, R.; Heintze, J.

1996-01-01

The Cosmic Ray Tracking (CRT) project represents a study on the use of tracking detectors of the time projection chamber type to detect secondary cosmic ray particles in extensive air showers. In reconstructing the arrival direction of the primary cosmic ray particles, the CRT detectors take advantage of the angular correlation of secondary particles with the cosmic rays leading to these air showers. In this paper, the detector hardware including the custom-designed electronics system is described in detail. A CRT detector module provides an active area of 2.5 m 2 and allows to measure track directions with a precision of 0.4 circle . It consists of two circular drift chambers of 1.8 m diameter with six sense wires each, and a 10 cm thick iron plate between the two chambers. Each detector has a local electronics box with a readout, trigger, and monitoring system. The detectors can distinguish penetrating muons from other types of charged secondaries. A large detector array could be used to search for γ-ray point sources at energies above several TeV and for studies of the cosmic-ray composition. Ten detectors are in operation at the site of the HEGRA air shower array. (orig.)

Cosmic rays on earth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allkofer, O.C.; Grieder, P.K.F.

1984-01-01

A data collection is presented that covers cosmic rays on earth. Included are all relevant data on flux and intensity measurements, energy spectra, and related data of all primary and secondary components of the cosmic radiation at all levels in the atmosphere, at sea level and underground. In those cases where no useful experimental data have been available, theoretical predictions were substituted. (GSCH)

Long-term and transient time variation of cosmic ray fluxes detected in Argentina by CARPET cosmic ray detector

Science.gov (United States)

De Mendonça, R. R. S.; Raulin, J.-P.; Bertoni, F. C. P.; Echer, E.; Makhmutov, V. S.; Fernandez, G.

2011-07-01

We present results obtained at El Leoncito (CASLEO, San Juan, Argentina) with the CARPET charged particles detector installed in April 2006. The observed modulation of the cosmic ray flux is discussed as a function of its time variability and it is related to longer solar activity variations and to shorter variations during solar and geomagnetic transient activity. Short period (few minutes, few hours) cosmic ray modulation events are observed during rain time (precipitation) and significant variations of the atmospheric electric field. Complementary observations of the atmospheric electric field indicate that its time variations play an important role in the detected cosmic ray event.

Ultra high-energy cosmic ray composition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Longley, N.P.

1993-01-01

The Soudan 2 surface-underground cosmic ray experiment can simultaneously measure surface shower size, underground muon multiplicity, and underground muon separation for ultra high energy cosmic ray showers. These measurements are sensitive to the primary composition. Analysis for energies from 10 1 to 10 4 TeV favors a light flux consisting of predominantly H and He nuclei

The ALTA cosmic ray experiment electronics system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brouwer, W.; Burris, W.J.; Caron, B.; Hewlett, J.; Holm, L.; Hamilton, A.; McDonald, W.J.; Pinfold, J.L.; Price, P.; Schaapman, J.R.; Sibley, L.; Soluk, R.A.; Wampler, L.J.

2005-01-01

Understanding the origin and propagation of high-energy cosmic rays is a fundamental area of astroparticle physics with major unanswered questions. The study of cosmic rays with energy more than 10 14 eV, probed only by ground-based experiments, has been restricted by the low particle flux. The Alberta Large-area Time-coincidence Array (ALTA) uses a sparse array of cosmic ray detection stations located in high schools across a large geographical area to search for non-random high-energy cosmic ray phenomena. Custom-built ALTA electronics is based on a modular board design. Its function is to control the detectors at each ALTA site allowing precise measurements of event timing and energy in the local detectors as well as time synchronization of all of the sites in the array using the global positioning system

Cosmic-ray contribution in measurement of environmental gamma-ray dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaoka, Kazunori; Honda, Kouichirou; Miyano, Keiji

1996-01-01

Nowadays several kinds of dosimeters are being used for environmental gamma-ray monitoring. However the results measured by those instruments are not always in good agreement. It may be caused from the different characteristics of dosimeters. In particular the different responses of the instruments to cosmic-rays give significant influence on the results. Environmental radiation measurements at various altitudes on Mt. Fuji were carried out using a scintillation spectrometer with 3''φ spherical NaI(Tl), a pressurized ionization chamber (PIC), an air-equivalent ionization chamber (IC), thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD), radiophotoluminescence glass dosimeters (RPLD) and NaI(Tl) scintillation survey meters so that the response characteristics of these instruments to cosmic-rays could be clarified. Cosmic-ray contributions for all instruments were correlated with counting rate over 3 MeV by the spectrometer. Each contribution can be estimated by measurement of the counting rate. Conversion factors (nGy/h/cpm) for IC, PIC, TLD, RPLD and NaI survey meters (TCS166 and TCS121C) were 0.33, 0.32, 0.25, 0.24, 0.06 and -0.01, respectively. Self-doses of these instruments were estimated by measurements at Nokogiriyama facilities of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo. Self-doses for TLD and RPLD were approximately 6 nGy/h. The self dose effect should be taken into consideration in environmental dose measurements. These data are expected to be useful in estimating the cosmic-ray contribution and self-dose in the measurement of environmental gamma-ray dose. (author)

Muon Production in Relativistic Cosmic-Ray Interactions

OpenAIRE

Klein, Spencer

2009-01-01

Cosmic-rays with energies up to $3\\times10^{20}$ eV have been observed. The nuclear composition of these cosmic rays is unknown but if the incident nuclei are protons then the corresponding center of mass energy is $\\sqrt{s_{nn}} = 700$ TeV. High energy muons can be used to probe the composition of these incident nuclei. The energy spectra of high-energy ($>$ 1 TeV) cosmic ray induced muons have been measured with deep underground or under-ice detectors. These muons come from pion and kaon de...

Power requirements for cosmic ray propagation models involving diffusive reacceleration; estimates and implications for the damping of interstellar turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Drury, Luke O.'C.; Strong, Andrew W.

2017-01-01

We make quantitative estimates of the power supplied to the Galactic cosmic ray population by second-order Fermi acceleration in the interstellar medium, or as it is usually termed in cosmic ray propagation studies, diffusive reacceleration. Using recent results on the local interstellar spectrum, following Voyager 1's crossing of the heliopause, we show that for parameter values, in particular the Alfvén speed, typically used in propagation codes such as GALPROP to fit the B/C ratio, the power contributed by diffusive reacceleration is significant and can be of order 50% of the total Galactic cosmic ray power. The implications for the damping of interstellar turbulence are briefly considered.

Sulphur mountain: Cosmic ray intensity records

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venkatesan, D.; Mathews, T.

1985-01-01

This book deals with the comic ray intensity registrations at the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Laboratory. The time series of intensity form a valuable data-set, for studying cosmic ray intensity variations and their dependence on solar activity. The IGY neutron monitor started operating from July 1, 1957 and continued through 1963. Daily mean values are tabulated for the period and these are also represented in plots. This monitor was set up by the National Research Council of Canada

Non-universal spectra of ultra-high energy cosmic ray primaries and secondaries in a structured universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sigl, Guenter

2007-01-01

Analytical calculations of extra-galactic cosmic ray spectra above ∼ 10 17 eV are often performed assuming continuous source distributions, giving rise to spectra that depend little on the propagation mode, be it rectilinear or diffusive. We perform trajectory simulations for proton primaries in the probably more realistic case of discrete sources with a density of ∼ 10 -5 Mpc -3 . We find two considerable non-universal effects that depend on source distributions and magnetic fields: First, the primary extra-galactic cosmic ray flux can become strongly suppressed below a few 10 18 eV due to partial confinement in magnetic fields surrounding sources. Second, the secondary photon to primary cosmic ray flux ratio between ≅ 3 x 10 18 eV and ≅ 10 20 eV decreases with decreasing source density and increasing magnetization. As a consequence, in acceleration scenarios for the origin of highest energy cosmic rays the fraction of secondary photons may be difficult to detect even for experiments such as Pierre Auger. The cosmogenic neutrino flux does not significantly depend on source density and magnetization. (author)

Cosmic-ray exposure records and origins of meteorites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reedy, R.C.

1985-01-01

The cosmic-ray records of meteorites can be used to infer much about their origins and recent histories. Some meteorites had simple cosmic-ray exposure histories, while others had complex exposure histories with their cosmogenic products made both before and after a collision in space. The methods used to interpret meteorites' cosmic-ray records, especially identifying simple or complex exposure histories, often are inadequate. Besides spallogenic radionuclides and stable nuclides, measurements of products that have location-sensitive production rates, such as the tracks of heavy cosmic-ray nuclei or neutron-capture nuclides, are very useful in accurately determining a meteorite's history. Samples from different, known locations of a meteorite help in studying the cosmic-ray record. Such extensive sets of meteorite measurements, plus theoretical modeling of complex histories, will improve our ability to predict the production of cosmogenic nuclides in meteorites, to distinguish simple and complex exposure histories, and to better determine exposure ages

Cosmic Ray Physics with the IceCube Observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolanoski, H

2013-01-01

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory with its 1-km 3 in-ice detector and the 1-km 2 surface detector (IceTop) constitutes a three-dimensional cosmic ray detector well suited for general cosmic ray physics. Various measurements of cosmic ray properties, such as energy spectra, mass composition and anisotropies, have been obtained from analyses of air showers at the surface and/or atmospheric muons in the ice.

The intergalactic propagation of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hooper, Dan; /Fermilab; Sarkar, Subir; /Oxford U., Theor. Phys.; Taylor, Andrew M.; /Oxford U.

2006-08-01

We investigate the propagation of ultra-high energy cosmic ray nuclei (A = 1-56) from cosmologically distant sources through the cosmic radiation backgrounds. Various models for the injected composition and spectrum and of the cosmic infrared background are studied using updated photodisintegration cross-sections. The observational data on the spectrum and the composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays are jointly consistent with a model where all of the injected primary cosmic rays are iron nuclei (or a mixture of heavy and light nuclei).

Cosmic ray propagation with CRPropa 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batista, R Alves; Evoli, C; Sigl, G; Van Vliet, A; Erdmann, M; Kuempel, D; Mueller, G; Walz, D; Kampert, K-H; Winchen, T

2015-01-01

Solving the question of the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) requires the development of detailed simulation tools in order to interpret the experimental data and draw conclusions on the UHECR universe. CRPropa is a public Monte Carlo code for the galactic and extragalactic propagation of cosmic ray nuclei above ∼ 10 17 eV, as well as their photon and neutrino secondaries. In this contribution the new algorithms and features of CRPropa 3, the next major release, are presented. CRPropa 3 introduces time-dependent scenarios to include cosmic evolution in the presence of cosmic ray deflections in magnetic fields. The usage of high resolution magnetic fields is facilitated by shared memory parallelism, modulated fields and fields with heterogeneous resolution. Galactic propagation is enabled through the implementation of galactic magnetic field models, as well as an efficient forward propagation technique through transformation matrices. To make use of the large Python ecosystem in astrophysics CRPropa 3 can be steered and extended in Python. (paper)

Cosmic Ray-Air Shower Measurement from Space

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Yoshiyuki

1997-01-01

A feasibility study has been initiated to observe from space the highest energy cosmic rays above 1021 eV. A satellite observatory concept, the Maximum-energy Auger (Air)-Shower Satellite (MASS), is recently renamed as the Orbital Wide-angle Collector (OWL) by taking its unique feature of using a very wide field-of-view (FOV) optics. A huge array of imaging devices (about 10(exp 6) pixels) is required to detect and record fluorescent light profiles of cosmic ray cascades in the atmosphere. The FOV of MASS could extend to as large as about 60 in. diameter, which views (500 - 1000 km) of earth's surface and more than 300 - 1000 cosmic ray events per year could be observed above 1020 eV. From far above the atmosphere, the MASS/OWL satellite should be capable of observing events at all angles including near horizontal tracks, and would have considerable aperture for high energy photon and neutrino observation. With a large aperture and the spatial and temporal resolution, MASS could determine the energy spectrum, the mass composition, and arrival anisotropy of cosmic rays from 1020 eV to 1022 eV; a region hitherto not explored by ground-based detectors such as the Fly's Eye and air-shower arrays. MASS/OWL's ability to identify cosmic neutrinos and gamma rays may help providing evidence for the theory which attributes the above cut-off cosmic ray flux to the decay of topological defects. Very wide FOV optics system of MASS/OWL with a large array of imaging devices is applicable to observe other atmospheric phenomena including upper atmospheric lightning. The wide FOV MASS optics being developed can also improve ground-based gamma-ray observatories by allowing simultaneous observation of many gamma ray sources located at different constellations.

Cosmic-ray antimatter - A primary origin hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Stecker, F. W.; Protheroe, R. J.; Kazanas, D.

1983-01-01

The present investigation is concerned with the possibility that the observed cosmic-ray protons are of primary extragalactic origin, taking into account the significance of the current antiproton data. Attention is given to questions regarding primary antiprotons, antihelium fluxes, and the propagation of extragalactic cosmic rays. It is concluded that the primary origin hypothesis should be considered as a serious alternative explanation for the cosmic-ray antiproton fluxes. Such extragalactic primary origin can be considered in the context of a baryon symmetric domain cosmology. The fluxes and propagation characteristics suggested are found to be in rough agreement with the present antiproton data.

Observation of the thunderstorm-related ground cosmic ray flux variations by ARGO-YBJ

Science.gov (United States)

Bartoli, B.; Bernardini, P.; Bi, X. J.; Cao, Z.; Catalanotti, S.; Chen, S. Z.; Chen, T. L.; Cui, S. W.; Dai, B. Z.; D'Amone, A.; Danzengluobu; De Mitri, I.; D'Ettorre Piazzoli, B.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Sciascio, G.; Feng, C. F.; Feng, Zhaoyang; Feng, Zhenyong; Gao, W.; Gou, Q. B.; Guo, Y. Q.; He, H. H.; Hu, Haibing; Hu, Hongbo; Iacovacci, M.; Iuppa, R.; Jia, H. Y.; Labaciren; Li, H. J.; Liu, C.; Liu, J.; Liu, M. Y.; Lu, H.; Ma, L. L.; Ma, X. H.; Mancarella, G.; Mari, S. M.; Marsella, G.; Mastroianni, S.; Montini, P.; Ning, C. C.; Perrone, L.; Pistilli, P.; Salvini, P.; Santonico, R.; Shen, P. R.; Sheng, X. D.; Shi, F.; Surdo, A.; Tan, Y. H.; Vallania, P.; Vernetto, S.; Vigorito, C.; Wang, H.; Wu, C. Y.; Wu, H. R.; Xue, L.; Yang, Q. Y.; Yang, X. C.; Yao, Z. G.; Yuan, A. F.; Zha, M.; Zhang, H. M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, X. Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, J.; Zhaxiciren; Zhaxisangzhu; Zhou, X. X.; Zhu, F. R.; Zhu, Q. Q.; D'Alessandro, F.; ARGO-YBJ Collaboration

2018-02-01

A correlation between the secondary cosmic ray flux and the near-earth electric field intensity, measured during thunderstorms, has been found by analyzing the data of the ARGO-YBJ experiment, a full coverage air shower array located at the Yangbajing Cosmic Ray Laboratory (4300 m a. s. l., Tibet, China). The counting rates of showers with different particle multiplicities (m =1 , 2, 3, and ≥4 ) have been found to be strongly dependent upon the intensity and polarity of the electric field measured during the course of 15 thunderstorms. In negative electric fields (i.e., accelerating negative charges downwards), the counting rates increase with increasing electric field strength. In positive fields, the rates decrease with field intensity until a certain value of the field EFmin (whose value depends on the event multiplicity), above which the rates begin increasing. By using Monte Carlo simulations, we found that this peculiar behavior can be well described by the presence of an electric field in a layer of thickness of a few hundred meters in the atmosphere above the detector, which accelerates/decelerates the secondary shower particles of opposite charge, modifying the number of particles with energy exceeding the detector threshold. These results, for the first time to our knowledge, give a consistent explanation for the origin of the variation of the electron/positron flux observed for decades by high altitude cosmic ray detectors during thunderstorms.

Search for antimatter in 1012 eV cosmic rays using Artemis method and interpretation of the cosmic rays spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomarede, D.

1999-04-01

This thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is a review of the present knowledge of the antimatter and of the cosmic rays. Theoretical and experimental aspects are presented. It is demonstrated that a measurement of the antimatter abundance in TeV cosmic rays is of fundamental interest, and would establish the symmetric or asymmetric nature of the Universe. The second part is dedicated to the method of antimatter research through the Earth Moon ion spectrometer (ARTEMIS). The account is given of the winter 1996-97 41-nights observation campaign undertaken at the Whipple Observatory in Arizona (USA). A 109 photomultiplier camera is operated on the 40 meter telescope to detect by Cherenkov imaging the cosmic ray initiated showers. We describe the performance of an optical filter used to reduce the noise. The development and the utilization of a simulation program are described. The main work is the analysis of the data: data characterization, understanding of the apparatus, understanding of the noise and its influence, calibration, search for signals by different methods. Subtle systematic effects are uncovered. The simulations establish that the amount of data is insufficient to reveal a shadow effect in the cosmic ray flux. The conclusion of this work is that the experimental setup was not suitable, and we propose important improvements of the method based on a bigger focal plane that would allow to reach a one percent sensitivity on the antimatter content of the cosmic rays. In the third part of the thesis, an interpretation of the total cosmic ray spectrum is proposed and discussed. (author)

Cosmic Rays in Thunderstorms

Science.gov (United States)

Buitink, Stijn; Scholten, Olaf; van den Berg, Ad; Ebert, Ute

2013-04-01

Cosmic Rays in Thunderstorms Cosmic rays are protons and heavier nuclei that constantly bombard the Earth's atmosphere with energies spanning a vast range from 109 to 1021 eV. At typical altitudes up to 10-20 km they initiate large particle cascades, called extensive air showers, that contain millions to billions of secondary particles depending on their initial energy. These particles include electrons, positrons, hadrons and muons, and are concentrated in a compact particle front that propagates at relativistic speed. In addition, the shower leaves behind a trail of lower energy electrons from ionization of air molecules. Under thunderstorm conditions these electrons contribute to the electrical and ionization processes in the cloud. When the local electric field is strong enough the secondary electrons can create relativistic electron run-away avalanches [1] or even non-relativistic avalanches. Cosmic rays could even trigger lightning inception. Conversely, strong electric fields also influence the development of the air shower [2]. Extensive air showers emit a short (tens of nanoseconds) radio pulse due to deflection of the shower particles in the Earth's magnetic field [3]. Antenna arrays, such as AERA, LOFAR and LOPES detect these pulses in a frequency window of roughly 10-100 MHz. These systems are also sensitive to the radiation from discharges associated to thunderstorms, and provide a means to study the interaction of cosmic ray air showers and the electrical processes in thunderstorms [4]. In this presentation we discuss the involved radiation mechanisms and present analyses of thunderstorm data from air shower arrays [1] A. Gurevich et al., Phys. Lett. A 165, 463 (1992) [2] S. Buitink et al., Astropart. Phys. 33, 1 (2010) [3] H. Falcke et al., Nature 435, 313 (2005) [4] S. Buitink et al., Astron. & Astrophys. 467, 385 (2007)

Interstellar propagation of low energy cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cesarsky, C.J.

1975-01-01

Wave particles interactions prevent low energy cosmic rays from propagating at velocities much faster than the Alfven velocity, reducing their range by a factor of order 50. Therefore, supernovae remnants cannot fill the neutral portions of the interstellar medium with 2 MeV cosmic rays [fr

Cosmic-ray exposure records and origins of meteorites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reedy, R.C.

1985-01-01

The cosmic-ray records of meteorites are used to infer much about their origins and recent histories. The methods used to interpret meteorites cosmic-ray records, especially identifying simple or complex exposure histories, often are inadequate. Spallogenic radionuclides, stable nuclides, and measurements of products that have location-sensitive production rates, such as the tracks of heavy cosmic-ray nuclei or neutron-capture nuclides, are very useful in accurately determining a meteorite's history. Samples from different, known locations of a meteorite help in studying the cosmic-ray record. Such extensive sets of meteorite measuremetns, plus theoretical modeling of complex histories, improves the ability to predict the production of cosmogenic nuclides in meteorites, to distinguish simple and complex exposure histories, and to better determine exposure ages

The propagation of galactic cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, A.N.

1981-01-01

Large scale (approximately 15 pc) turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) causes the firehose and mirror instabilities to occur. These produce small scale (approximately 10 -7 pc) magnetic irregularities, which scatter cosmic rays. We use pulsar scintillation data, and a model of the origin of these scintillations, to construct a slab model of the turbulent ISM. Then we find the amplitudes and wavelengths of the magnetic irregularities that arise, and we calculate the coefficients for the diffusion of cosmic rays along the interstellar magnetic fields. We incorporate this diffusion into our model of the turbulent ISM, and show that it can account naturally for both the lifetime of low energy cosmic rays, and the variation of their mean pathlength with energy. Our model has no galactic halo, and contains no scattering by Alfven waves. (author)

Relative distribution of cosmic rays and magnetic fields

Science.gov (United States)

Seta, Amit; Shukurov, Anvar; Wood, Toby S.; Bushby, Paul J.; Snodin, Andrew P.

2018-02-01

Synchrotron radiation from cosmic rays is a key observational probe of the galactic magnetic field. Interpreting synchrotron emission data requires knowledge of the cosmic ray number density, which is often assumed to be in energy equipartition (or otherwise tightly correlated) with the magnetic field energy. However, there is no compelling observational or theoretical reason to expect such a tight correlation to hold across all scales. We use test particle simulations, tracing the propagation of charged particles (protons) through a random magnetic field, to study the cosmic ray distribution at scales comparable to the correlation scale of the turbulent flow in the interstellar medium (≃100 pc in spiral galaxies). In these simulations, we find that there is no spatial correlation between the cosmic ray number density and the magnetic field energy density. In fact, their distributions are approximately statistically independent. We find that low-energy cosmic rays can become trapped between magnetic mirrors, whose location depends more on the structure of the field lines than on the field strength.

Bubbles, superbubbles and their impact on cosmic ray transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weinreuter, Matthias; Gebauer, Iris; Boer, Wim de; Neumann, Alexander [KIT, Karlsruhe (Germany)

2016-07-01

The Fermi-LAT data on diffuse gamma rays show variations in the gamma ray intensity, which are linked to either variations in the gas density or variations in the cosmic ray density. Such small scale variations are not modeled in current state-of-the-art models for galactic cosmic ray propagation. Inhomogeneities in the interstellar material can be formed by cavities like the so-called Local Bubble, an underdense region surrounding our Sun, which was created by several supernova explosions in the past. We show that the Local Bubble can have a strong impact on the cosmic ray energy spectra and density. In particular, it enhances cosmic ray scattering in the surrounding molecular cloud complexes and can significantly distort the cosmic ray arrival directions. We briefly discuss the consequences for pulsar searches in energetic positrons and electrons. By making simple assumptions on the level of inhomogeneity in the interstellar medium we investigate if the observed variations in the diffuse gamma ray emission can indeed be explained by cavities similar to the Local Bubble.

Cosmic-ray modulation: an ab initio approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engelbrecht, N.E.; Burger, R.A., E-mail: 12580996@nwu.ac.za [Center for Space Research, North-West University, Potchefstroom (South Africa)

2014-07-01

A better understanding of cosmic-ray modulation in the heliosphere can only be gained through a proper understanding of the effects of turbulence on the diffusion and drift of cosmic rays. We present an ab initio model for cosmic-ray modulation, incorporating for the first time the results yielded by a two-component turbulence transport model. This model is solved for periods of minimum solar activity, utilizing boundary values chosen so that model results are in fair to good agreement with spacecraft observations of turbulence quantities, not only in the solar ecliptic plane but also along the out-of-ecliptic trajectory of the Ulysses spacecraft. These results are employed as inputs for modelled slab and 2D turbulence energy spectra. The latter spectrum is chosen based on physical considerations, with a drop-off at the very lowest wavenumbers commencing at the 2D outerscale. There currently exist no models or observations for this quantity, and it is the only free parameter in this study. The modelled turbulence spectra are used as inputs for parallel mean free path expressions based on those derived from quasi-linear theory and perpendicular mean free paths from extended nonlinear guiding center theory. Furthermore, the effects of turbulence on cosmic-ray drifts are modelled in a self-consistent way, employing a recently developed model for drift along the wavy current sheet. The resulting diffusion coefficients and drift expressions are applied to the study of galactic cosmic-ray protons and antiprotons using a three dimensional, steady-state cosmic-ray modulation code, and sample solutions in fair agreement with multiple spacecraft observations are presented. (author)

Cosmic-ray modulation: an ab initio approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engelbrecht, N.E.; Burger, R.A.

2014-01-01

A better understanding of cosmic-ray modulation in the heliosphere can only be gained through a proper understanding of the effects of turbulence on the diffusion and drift of cosmic rays. We present an ab initio model for cosmic-ray modulation, incorporating for the first time the results yielded by a two-component turbulence transport model. This model is solved for periods of minimum solar activity, utilizing boundary values chosen so that model results are in fair to good agreement with spacecraft observations of turbulence quantities, not only in the solar ecliptic plane but also along the out-of-ecliptic trajectory of the Ulysses spacecraft. These results are employed as inputs for modelled slab and 2D turbulence energy spectra. The latter spectrum is chosen based on physical considerations, with a drop-off at the very lowest wavenumbers commencing at the 2D outerscale. There currently exist no models or observations for this quantity, and it is the only free parameter in this study. The modelled turbulence spectra are used as inputs for parallel mean free path expressions based on those derived from quasi-linear theory and perpendicular mean free paths from extended nonlinear guiding center theory. Furthermore, the effects of turbulence on cosmic-ray drifts are modelled in a self-consistent way, employing a recently developed model for drift along the wavy current sheet. The resulting diffusion coefficients and drift expressions are applied to the study of galactic cosmic-ray protons and antiprotons using a three dimensional, steady-state cosmic-ray modulation code, and sample solutions in fair agreement with multiple spacecraft observations are presented. (author)

On the possibility of highest energy cosmic rays bursts and their correlation with gamma rays bursts e.g. March 5th, 1979 event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drukier, K.

1982-01-01

The avalanche production of magnetic monopoles is possible in neutron stars. Big part of the magnetic field energy can be used to accelerate a pulse of 10 30 monopoles to the energy E > approximately 10 17 eV. Thus the neutron stars may be ''point'' sources of bursts of highest energy Cosmic Rays. The emission of brehmsstrahlung photons by these highly relativistic monopoles would be seen as X and gamma bursts. This ''exotic'' model for March 5th, 1979 event, predicts that it has been followed by burst of highest energy Cosmic Rays coming from the direction of LMC supernovae remanent N49

Radar detection of ultra high energy cosmic rays

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Isaac J.

TARA (Telescope Array Radar) is a cosmic ray radar detection experiment co-located with Telescope Array, the conventional surface scintillation detector (SD) and fluorescence telescope detector (FD) near Delta, UT. The TARA detector combines a 40 kW transmitter and high gain transmitting antenna which broadcasts the radar carrier over the SD array and in the FD field of view to a 250 MS/s DAQ receiver. Data collection began in August, 2013. TARA stands apart from other cosmic ray radar experiments in that radar data is directly compared with conventional cosmic ray detector events. The transmitter is also directly controlled by TARA researchers. Waveforms from the FD-triggered data stream are time-matched with TA events and searched for signal using a novel signal search technique in which the expected (simulated) radar echo of a particular air shower is used as a matched filter template and compared to radio waveforms. This technique is used to calculate the radar cross-section (RCS) upper-limit on all triggers that correspond to well-reconstructed TA FD monocular events. Our lowest cosmic ray RCS upper-limit is 42 cm2 for an 11 EeV event. An introduction to cosmic rays is presented with the evolution of detection and the necessity of new detection techniques, of which radar detection is a candidate. The software simulation of radar scattering from cosmic rays follows. The TARA detector, including transmitter and receiver systems, are discussed in detail. Our search algorithm and methodology for calculating RCS is presented for the purpose of being repeatable. Search results are explained in context of the usefulness and future of cosmic ray radar detection.

Measurement of H, He, C and O Cosmic ray primaries preliminary results from the CREAM II experiment

CERN Document Server

Mognet, Samuel

The direct measurement of the energy spectrum and composition of the incoming cosmic-ray flux at multi-TeV energies is of great interest. A feature located somewhere between 1000-10,000 TeV in the all-particle spectrum, referred to as the ‘knee’ characterized by a steepening of the power-law flux, has been observed by ground-based detectors for many years. It is believed to be related to an upper limit or change in efficiency of the Galactic accelerators of cosmic rays and/or properties of the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. Presented here is a preliminary analysis of the flux of primary H, He, C and O cosmic-ray species measured using the CREAM II instrument. This analysis is conducted using the Penn State-built Timing Charge Detector, distinct from other charge detectors used in alternative published CREAM II results. The second Antarctic flight of the CREAM instrument had a ∼ 28 day flight in the 2005-2006 Antarctic flight season. The instrument was launched on December 16th 2005 from Willi...

Cosmic ray investigation for the Voyager missions; energetic particle studies in the outer heliosphere - and beyond

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stone, E C; Vogt, R E [California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena (USA); McDonald, F B; Teegarden, B J; Trainor, J H [National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, Md. (USA). Goddard Space Flight Center; Jokipii, J R [Arizona Univ., Tucson (USA); Webber, W R [New Hampshire Univ., Durham (USA)

1977-12-01

A cosmic-ray detector system (CRS) has been developed for the Voyager mission which will measure the energy spectrum of electrons from approximately 3-110 MeV and the energy spectra and elemental comparison of all cosmic-ray nuclei from hydrogen through iron over an energy range from approximately 1-500 MeV.nuc. Isotopes of hydrogen through sulfur will be resolved from approximately 2-75 MeV/nuc. Studies with CRS data will provide information on the energy content, origin and acceleration process, life history, and dynamics of cosmic rays in the galaxy, and contribute to an understanding of the nucleosynthesis of elements in the cosmic-ray sources. Particular emphasis will be placed on low-energy phenomena that are expected to exist in interstellar space and are known to be present in the outer Solar System. This investigation will also add to our understanding of the transport of cosmic rays, Jovian electrons, and low-energy interplanetary particles over an extended region of interplanetary space. A major contribution to these areas of study will be the measurement of three-dimensional streaming patterns of nuclei from H through Fe and electrons over an extended energy range, with a precision that will allow determination of anisotropies down to 1%. The required combination of charge resolution, reliability and redundance has been achieved with systems consisting entirely of solid-state charged-particle detectors.

Sealed drift tube cosmic ray veto counters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rios, R.; Tatar, E.; Bacon, J.D.; Bowles, T.J.; Hill, R.; Green, J.A.; Hogan, G.E.; Ito, T.M.; Makela, M.; Morris, C.L.; Mortenson, R.; Pasukanics, F.E.; Ramsey, J.; Saunders, A.; Seestrom, S.J.; Sondheim, W.E.; Teasdale, W.; Saltus, M.; Back, H.O.; Cottrell, C.R.

2011-01-01

We describe a simple drift tube counter that has been used as a cosmic ray veto for the UCNA experiment, a first-ever measurement of the neutron beta-asymmetry using ultra-cold neutrons. These detectors provide an inexpensive alternative to more conventional scintillation detectors for large area cosmic ray anticoincidence detectors.

Pulsar Wind Nebulae inside Supernova Remnants as Cosmic-Ray PeVatrons

Science.gov (United States)

Ohira, Yutaka; Kisaka, Shota; Yamazaki, Ryo

2018-05-01

We propose that cosmic-ray PeVatrons are pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) inside supernova remnants (SNRs). The PWN initially expands into the freely expanding stellar ejecta. Then, the PWN catches up with the shocked region of the SNR, where particles can be slightly accelerated by the back and forth motion between the PWN and the SNR, and some particles diffuse into the PWN. Afterwards the PWN is compressed by the SNR, where the particles in the PWN are accelerated by the adiabatic compression. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we show that particles accelerated by the SNR to 0.1 PeV can be reaccelerated to 1 PeV until the end of the PWN compression.

Production of particle clustern in 50 GeV/cπ- -N and cosmic ray interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaul, S.K.

1977-01-01

The role of particle clusters in multiple-pion production at accelerator and cosmic ray energies is studied employing the high multiplicity (nsub(c) > = 9) accelerator data at 50 GeV/c, and cosmic ray α-N and N-N data at 0.1-1.21 TeV and 0.25-42.3 TeV respectively. The clusters in individual interactions have been identified by employing three methods. In interactions where the measurement of the secondaries was possible, the parameters of the clusters were found from the kinematics of the cluster production process and in it rest of the cases the parameters were determined by the conventional method. A phenomeological investigation of the following aspects has been made: (i) mass and decay particles of the cluster, (ii) transverse momentum of the cluster, (iii) angular distribution of the secondary particles in the cluster system, and (iv) average momentum (Psub(0)) of the pions in the cluster-rest system. In majority of the events of each type of interactions, at least one cluster is emitted. The average characteristics of clusters produced in double and single cluster events have been found to be similar. The average mass of the cluster and the number of its charged decay particles have been found to be 1.79 +- 0.2 GeV and 5.78 +- 0.4 GeV respectively. Value of (Psub(0)) has been found to be (161.2 +- 12) MeV/c. It has been observed that the features of the clusters at accelerator and cosmic ray energies are almost similar. (author)

Heliospheric Impact on Cosmic Rays Modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwari, Bhupendra Kumar

2016-07-01

Heliospheric Impact on Cosmic RaysModulation B. K. Tiwari Department of Physics, A. P. S. University, Rewa (M.P.), btiwari70@yahoo.com Cosmic rays (CRs) flux at earth is modulated by the heliosphereric magnetic field and the structure of the heliosphere, controls by solar outputs and their variability. Sunspots numbers (SSN) is often treated as a primary indicator of solar activity (SA). GCRs entering the helioshphere are affected by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and solar wind speed, their modulation varies with the varying solar activity. The observation based on data recoded from Omniweb data Centre for solar- interplanetary activity indices and monthly mean count rate of cosmic ray intensity (CRI) data from neutron monitors of different cut-off rigidities(Rc) (Moscow Rc=2.42Gv and Oulu Rc=0.80Gv). During minimum solar activity periodof solar cycle 23/24, the sun is remarkably quiet, weakest strength of the IMF and least dense and slowest, solar wind speed, whereas, in 2003, highest value of yearly averaged solar wind speed (~568 Km/sec) associated with several coronal holes, which generate high speed wind stream has been recorded. It is observed that GCRs fluxes reduces and is high anti-correlated with SSN (0.80) and IMF (0.86). CRI modulation produces by a strong solar flare, however, CME associated solar flare produce more disturbance in the interplanetary medium as well as in geomagnetic field. It is found that count rate of cosmic ray intensity and solar- interplanetary parameters were inverse correlated and solar indices were positive correlated. Keywords- Galactic Cosmic rays (GCRs), Sunspot number (SSN), Solar activity (SA), Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)

The basis for cosmic ray feedback: Written on the wind

Science.gov (United States)

Zweibel, Ellen G.

2017-05-01

Star formation and supermassive black hole growth in galaxies appear to be self-limiting. The mechanisms for self-regulation are known as feedback. Cosmic rays, the relativistic particle component of interstellar and intergalactic plasma, are among the agents of feedback. Because cosmic rays are virtually collisionless in the plasma environments of interest, their interaction with the ambient medium is primarily mediated by large scale magnetic fields and kinetic scale plasma waves. Because kinetic scales are much smaller than global scales, this interaction is most conveniently described by fluid models. In this paper, I discuss the kinetic theory and the classical theory of cosmic ray hydrodynamics (CCRH) which follows from assuming cosmic rays interact only with self-excited waves. I generalize CCRH to generalized cosmic ray hydrodynamics, which accommodates interactions with extrinsic turbulence, present examples of cosmic ray feedback, and assess where progress is needed.

Maximum entropy analysis of cosmic ray composition

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Nosek, D.; Ebr, Jan; Vícha, Jakub; Trávníček, Petr; Nosková, J.

2016-01-01

Roč. 76, Mar (2016), s. 9-18 ISSN 0927-6505 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-17501S Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : ultra-high energy cosmic rays * extensive air showers * cosmic ray composition Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 3.257, year: 2016

Early history of cosmic rays at Chicago

Science.gov (United States)

Yodh, Gaurang B.

2013-02-01

Cosmic ray studies at the University of Chicago were started by Arthur Compton during the late 1920s. The high points of cosmic ray studies at Chicago under Compton and Marcel Schein are the focus of this report, which summarizes the research done at Chicago up to the end of World War II.

RECORD-SETTING COSMIC-RAY INTENSITIES IN 2009 AND 2010

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mewaldt, R. A.; Davis, A. J.; Leske, R. A.; Stone, E. C.; Cummings, A. C.; Labrador, A. W.; Lave, K. A.; Binns, W. R.; Israel, M. H.; Wiedenbeck, M. E.; Christian, E. R.; De Nolfo, G. A.; Von Rosenvinge, T. T.

2010-01-01

We report measurements of record-setting intensities of cosmic-ray nuclei from C to Fe, made with the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer carried on the Advanced Composition Explorer in orbit about the inner Sun-Earth Lagrangian point. In the energy interval from ∼70 to ∼450 MeV nucleon -1 , near the peak in the near-Earth cosmic-ray spectrum, the measured intensities of major species from C to Fe were each 20%-26% greater in late 2009 than in the 1997-1998 minimum and previous solar minima of the space age (1957-1997). The elevated intensities reported here and also at neutron monitor energies were undoubtedly due to several unusual aspects of the solar cycle 23/24 minimum, including record-low interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) intensities, an extended period of reduced IMF turbulence, reduced solar-wind dynamic pressure, and extremely low solar activity during an extended solar minimum. The estimated parallel diffusion coefficient for cosmic-ray transport based on measured solar-wind properties was 44% greater in 2009 than in the 1997-1998 solar-minimum period. In addition, the weaker IMF should result in higher cosmic-ray drift velocities. Cosmic-ray intensity variations at 1 AU are found to lag IMF variations by 2-3 solar rotations, indicating that significant solar modulation occurs inside ∼20 AU, consistent with earlier galactic cosmic-ray radial-gradient measurements. In 2010, the intensities suddenly decreased to 1997 levels following increases in solar activity and in the inclination of the heliospheric current sheet. We describe the conditions that gave cosmic rays greater access to the inner solar system and discuss some of their implications.

Cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorfi, E.A.; Drury, L.O.C.; Voelk, H.J.; Webb, G.M.; Beck, R.; Biermann, P.; Heavens, A.; McKenzie, J.F.; Michel, F.C.

1983-01-01

The theory of diffusive shock acceleration was further developed with particular emphasis on the effects of time-dependence and wave-dissipation. Acceleration by pulsars and the production of gamma-ray bursts was also considered. (orig.)

The role of cosmic rays in the atmospheric processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stozhkov, Y I [Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Leninsky Prospect, 53, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2003-05-01

The energy flux of galactic cosmic rays falling on the earth's atmosphere is small in comparison with solar electromagnetic irradiation (by 10{sup 8} times). But at altitudes of h {approx} 3 to 35 km in the atmosphere, cosmic rays are the only ionization source (from the ground level up to h {approx} 3 km, natural radioactivity is an additional source of ionization). Solar activity modulates cosmic ray flux. The cosmic rays produce atmospheric ions that define the electrical properties of the atmosphere. The electric charges play a very important role in the processes of cloud and thundercloud formation in the operation of the global electric circuit. The changes in electric properties of the atmosphere influence weather and climate. Thus, we have the following chain of the solar terrestrial relationship: solar activity - cosmic ray modulation - changes in the global electric properties of the atmosphere - changes in weather and climate. The following questions are discussed in this paper: light ion production in the atmosphere, role of electric charges in the formation of clouds and thunderclouds, experimental evidences of the relationships between cosmic ray flux and atmospheric current and lightning.

The role of cosmic rays in the atmospheric processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stozhkov, Y I

2003-01-01

The energy flux of galactic cosmic rays falling on the earth's atmosphere is small in comparison with solar electromagnetic irradiation (by 10 8 times). But at altitudes of h ∼ 3 to 35 km in the atmosphere, cosmic rays are the only ionization source (from the ground level up to h ∼ 3 km, natural radioactivity is an additional source of ionization). Solar activity modulates cosmic ray flux. The cosmic rays produce atmospheric ions that define the electrical properties of the atmosphere. The electric charges play a very important role in the processes of cloud and thundercloud formation in the operation of the global electric circuit. The changes in electric properties of the atmosphere influence weather and climate. Thus, we have the following chain of the solar terrestrial relationship: solar activity - cosmic ray modulation - changes in the global electric properties of the atmosphere - changes in weather and climate. The following questions are discussed in this paper: light ion production in the atmosphere, role of electric charges in the formation of clouds and thunderclouds, experimental evidences of the relationships between cosmic ray flux and atmospheric current and lightning

Model-dependent estimate on the connection between fast radio bursts and ultra high energy cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Xiang; Zhou, Bei; He, Hao-Ning; Fan, Yi-Zhong; Wei, Da-Ming

2014-01-01

The existence of fast radio bursts (FRBs), a new type of extragalatic transient, has recently been established, and quite a few models have been proposed. In this work, we discuss the possible connection between the FRB sources and ultra high energy (>10 18 eV) cosmic rays. We show that in the blitzar model and the model of merging binary neutron stars, which includes the huge energy release of each FRB central engine together with the rather high rate of FRBs, the accelerated EeV cosmic rays may contribute significantly to the observed ones. In other FRB models, including, for example, the merger of double white dwarfs and the energetic magnetar radio flares, no significant EeV cosmic ray is expected. We also suggest that the mergers of double neutron stars, even if they are irrelevant to FRBs, may play a nonignorable role in producing EeV cosmic ray protons if supramassive neutron stars are formed in a sufficient fraction of mergers and the merger rate is ≳ 10 3 yr –1 Gpc –3 . Such a possibility will be unambiguously tested in the era of gravitational wave astronomy.

High-energy cosmic rays and tests of basic principles of Physics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gonzalez-Mestres L.

2014-04-01

Full Text Available With the present understanding of data, the observed flux suppression for ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR at energies above 4.1019 eV can be a signature of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK cutoff or be related to a similar mechanism. But it may also correspond, for instance, to the maximum energies available at the relevant sources. In both cases, violations of special relativity modifying cosmic-ray propagation or acceleration at very high energy can potentially play a role. Other violations of fundamental principles of standard particle physics (quantum mechanics, energy and momentum conservation, vacuum homogeneity and “static” properties, effective space dimensions, quark confinement… can also be relevant at these energies. In particular, UHECR data would in principle allow to set bounds on Lorentz symmetry violation (LSV in patterns incorporating a privileged local reference frame (the “vacuum rest frame”, VRF. But the precise analysis is far from trivial, and other effects can also be present. The effective parameters can be related to Planckscale physics, or even to physics beyond Planck scale, as well as to the dynamics and effective symmetries of LSV for nucleons, quarks, leptons and the photon. LSV can also be at the origin of GZK-like effects. In the presence of a VRF, and contrary to a “grand unification” view, LSV and other violations of standard principles can modify the internal structure of particles at very high energy and conventional symmetries may cease to be valid at energies close to the Planck scale. We present an updated discussion of these topics, including experimental prospects, new potentialities for high-energy cosmic ray phenomenology and the possible link with unconventional pre-Big Bang scenarios, superbradyon (superluminal preon patterns… The subject of a possible superluminal propagation of neutrinos at accelerator energies is also dealt with.

Cl36 and the age of the cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casse, M.; Goret, P.; Regnier, S.

1975-01-01

The radioactive isotope 36 Cl (tau=γx3.10 5 y) is used as a time reference for the propagation of cosmic rays. New measurements of the production cross section of 36 Cl in Ti and Fe at 24GeV will be presented. A critical analysis of the cross sections leads to an estimate of the ratio 36 Cl/Cl=0.030+0.007 in the arriving cosmic rays. The comparison between the expected abundance of Cl in the arriving cosmic rays and the observations tend to support the decay of 36 Cl. The inferred cosmic ray confinement time is about 10 6 y [fr

Observational probes of cosmic acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weinberg, David H.; Mortonson, Michael J.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Hirata, Christopher; Riess, Adam G.; Rozo, Eduardo

2013-01-01

The accelerating expansion of the universe is the most surprising cosmological discovery in many decades, implying that the universe is dominated by some form of “dark energy” with exotic physical properties, or that Einstein’s theory of gravity breaks down on cosmological scales. The profound implications of cosmic acceleration have inspired ambitious efforts to understand its origin, with experiments that aim to measure the history of expansion and growth of structure with percent-level precision or higher. We review in detail the four most well established methods for making such measurements: Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), weak gravitational lensing, and the abundance of galaxy clusters. We pay particular attention to the systematic uncertainties in these techniques and to strategies for controlling them at the level needed to exploit “Stage IV” dark energy facilities such as BigBOSS, LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST. We briefly review a number of other approaches including redshift-space distortions, the Alcock–Paczynski effect, and direct measurements of the Hubble constant H 0 . We present extensive forecasts for constraints on the dark energy equation of state and parameterized deviations from General Relativity, achievable with Stage III and Stage IV experimental programs that incorporate supernovae, BAO, weak lensing, and cosmic microwave background data. We also show the level of precision required for clusters or other methods to provide constraints competitive with those of these fiducial programs. We emphasize the value of a balanced program that employs several of the most powerful methods in combination, both to cross-check systematic uncertainties and to take advantage of complementary information. Surveys to probe cosmic acceleration produce data sets that support a wide range of scientific investigations, and they continue the longstanding astronomical tradition of mapping the universe in ever greater detail over ever

Observational probes of cosmic acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weinberg, David H., E-mail: dhw@astronomy.ohio-state.edu [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Mortonson, Michael J. [Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, MA (United States); Hirata, Christopher [California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States); Riess, Adam G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (United States); Rozo, Eduardo [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)

2013-09-10

The accelerating expansion of the universe is the most surprising cosmological discovery in many decades, implying that the universe is dominated by some form of “dark energy” with exotic physical properties, or that Einstein’s theory of gravity breaks down on cosmological scales. The profound implications of cosmic acceleration have inspired ambitious efforts to understand its origin, with experiments that aim to measure the history of expansion and growth of structure with percent-level precision or higher. We review in detail the four most well established methods for making such measurements: Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), weak gravitational lensing, and the abundance of galaxy clusters. We pay particular attention to the systematic uncertainties in these techniques and to strategies for controlling them at the level needed to exploit “Stage IV” dark energy facilities such as BigBOSS, LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST. We briefly review a number of other approaches including redshift-space distortions, the Alcock–Paczynski effect, and direct measurements of the Hubble constant H{sub 0}. We present extensive forecasts for constraints on the dark energy equation of state and parameterized deviations from General Relativity, achievable with Stage III and Stage IV experimental programs that incorporate supernovae, BAO, weak lensing, and cosmic microwave background data. We also show the level of precision required for clusters or other methods to provide constraints competitive with those of these fiducial programs. We emphasize the value of a balanced program that employs several of the most powerful methods in combination, both to cross-check systematic uncertainties and to take advantage of complementary information. Surveys to probe cosmic acceleration produce data sets that support a wide range of scientific investigations, and they continue the longstanding astronomical tradition of mapping the universe in ever greater detail over

The end of the galactic cosmic ray spectrum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stanev, Todor [Bartol Research Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)

2007-03-15

We discuss the region of transition between galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays. The exact shapes and compositions of these two components contains information about important parameters of powerful astrophysical sources and the conditions in extragalactic space as well as for the cosmological evolution of the sources of high energy cosmic rays. Several types of experimental data, including the exact shape of the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays, their chemical composition and their anisotropy, and the fluxes of cosmogenic neutrinos have to be included in the solution of this problem.

The Need for Direct High-Energy Cosmic-Ray Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Frank C.; Streitmatter, Robert

2004-01-01

Measuring the chemical composition of the cosmic rays in the energy region of greater than or equal to 10(exp 12)eV would be highly useful in settling several nagging questions concerning the propagation of cosmic rays in the galaxy. In particular an accurate measurement of secondary to primary ratios such as Boron to Carbon would gibe clear evidence as to whether the propagation of cosmic rays is determined by a diffusion coefficient that varies with the particle's energy as E(sup 0.5) or E(sup 0.3). This would go a long ways in helping us to understand the anistropy (or lack thereof) of the highest energy cosmic rays and the power requirements for producing those particles at approximately equal to 10(exp 18) eV which are believed to be highest energy particles produced in the Galaxy. This would be only one of the benefits of a mission such as ACCESS to perform direct particle measurements on very high energy cosmic rays.

Cosmic Ray Studies with IceCube

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Javier

In this contribution we will give an overview of the cosmic ray studies conducted within the IceCube collaboration. The IceCube detector in the geographical south pole can be used to measure various characteristics of the extensive air showers induced by high energy cosmic rays. With IceTop, the surface component of the detector, we detect the electromagnetic and muon components of the air showers, while with the deep detector we detect the high energy muons. We have measured the energy spectrum of cosmic ray primaries in the range between 1.58PeV and 1.26 EeV. A combined analysis of the high energy muon bundles in the ice and the air shower footprint in IceTop provides a measure of primary composition. We will also discuss how the sensitivity to low energy muons in the air showers has the potential to produce additional measures of primary composition.

Observation of superheavy primary cosmic ray nuclei with solid state track detectors and x-ray films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doke, Tadayoshi; Hayashi, Takayoshi; Ito, Kensai; Yanagimachi, Tomoki; Kobayashi, Shigeru.

1977-01-01

The measurements of energy spectra and the nuclear charge distribution of superheavy nuclei heavier than iron in primary cosmic ray can provide information on the origin, propagation and life time of the cosmic ray. Since incident particles are in the region of relativistic velocity (the low energy cosmic ray below the cutoff energy is forbidden from entering), the charges of cosmic ray nuclei can be determined without knowing the energy of particles. The balloon-borne solid state track detector and plastic and X-ray films were employed for the detection of superheavy cosmic ray, and the five events were detected with the cellulose nitrate film. The flux of superheavy nuclei is predicted from the present analysis. (Yoshimori, M.)

Measurement of cosmic-ray reconstruction efficiencies in the MicroBooNE LArTPC using a small external cosmic-ray counter

Science.gov (United States)

Acciarri, R.; Adams, C.; An, R.; Anthony, J.; Asaadi, J.; Auger, M.; Bagby, L.; Balasubramanian, S.; Baller, B.; Barnes, C.; Barr, G.; Bass, M.; Bay, F.; Bishai, M.; Blake, A.; Bolton, T.; Camilleri, L.; Caratelli, D.; Carls, B.; Castillo Fernandez, R.; Cavanna, F.; Chen, H.; Church, E.; Cianci, D.; Cohen, E.; Collin, G. H.; Conrad, J. M.; Convery, M.; Crespo-Anadón, J. I.; Del Tutto, M.; Devitt, D.; Dytman, S.; Eberly, B.; Ereditato, A.; Escudero Sanchez, L.; Esquivel, J.; Fadeeva, A. A.; Fleming, B. T.; Foreman, W.; Furmanski, A. P.; Garcia-Gamez, D.; Garvey, G. T.; Genty, V.; Goeldi, D.; Gollapinni, S.; Graf, N.; Gramellini, E.; Greenlee, H.; Grosso, R.; Guenette, R.; Hackenburg, A.; Hamilton, P.; Hen, O.; Hewes, J.; Hill, C.; Ho, J.; Horton-Smith, G.; Hourlier, A.; Huang, E.-C.; James, C.; de Vries, J. Jan; Jen, C.-M.; Jiang, L.; Johnson, R. A.; Joshi, J.; Jostlein, H.; Kaleko, D.; Kalousis, L. N.; Karagiorgi, G.; Ketchum, W.; Kirby, B.; Kirby, M.; Kobilarcik, T.; Kreslo, I.; Lange, G.; Laube, A.; Li, Y.; Lister, A.; Littlejohn, B. R.; Lockwitz, S.; Lorca, D.; Louis, W. C.; Luethi, M.; Lundberg, B.; Luo, X.; Marchionni, A.; Mariani, C.; Marshall, J.; Martinez Caicedo, D. A.; Meddage, V.; Miceli, T.; Mills, G. B.; Moon, J.; Mooney, M.; Moore, C. D.; Mousseau, J.; Murrells, R.; Naples, D.; Nienaber, P.; Nowak, J.; Palamara, O.; Paolone, V.; Papavassiliou, V.; Pate, S. F.; Pavlovic, Z.; Pelkey, R.; Piasetzky, E.; Porzio, D.; Pulliam, G.; Qian, X.; Raaf, J. L.; Rafique, A.; Rochester, L.; von Rohr, C. Rudolf; Russell, B.; Schmitz, D. W.; Schukraft, A.; Seligman, W.; Shaevitz, M. H.; Sinclair, J.; Smith, A.; Snider, E. L.; Soderberg, M.; Söldner-Rembold, S.; Soleti, S. R.; Spentzouris, P.; Spitz, J.; John, J. St.; Strauss, T.; Szelc, A. M.; Tagg, N.; Terao, K.; Thomson, M.; Toups, M.; Tsai, Y.-T.; Tufanli, S.; Usher, T.; Van De Pontseele, W.; Van de Water, R. G.; Viren, B.; Weber, M.; Wickremasinghe, D. A.; Wolbers, S.; Wongjirad, T.; Woodruff, K.; Yang, T.; Yates, L.; Zeller, G. P.; Zennamo, J.; Zhang, C.

2017-12-01

The MicroBooNE detector is a liquid argon time projection chamber at Fermilab designed to study short-baseline neutrino oscillations and neutrino-argon interaction cross-section. Due to its location near the surface, a good understanding of cosmic muons as a source of backgrounds is of fundamental importance for the experiment. We present a method of using an external 0.5 m (L) × 0.5 m (W) muon counter stack, installed above the main detector, to determine the cosmic-ray reconstruction efficiency in MicroBooNE. Data are acquired with this external muon counter stack placed in three different positions, corresponding to cosmic rays intersecting different parts of the detector. The data reconstruction efficiency of tracks in the detector is found to be epsilondata=(97.1±0.1 (stat) ± 1.4 (sys))%, in good agreement with the Monte Carlo reconstruction efficiency epsilonMC = (97.4±0.1)%. This analysis represents a small-scale demonstration of the method that can be used with future data coming from a recently installed cosmic-ray tagger system, which will be able to tag ≈80% of the cosmic rays passing through the MicroBooNE detector.

Spectral features in the cosmic ray fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Lipari, Paolo

2018-01-01

The cosmic ray energy distributions contain spectral features, that is narrow energy regions where the slope of the spectrum changes rapidly. The identification and study of these features is of great importance to understand the astrophysical mechanisms of acceleration and propagation that form the spectra. In first approximation a spectral feature is often described as a discontinuous change in slope, however very valuable information is also contained in its width, that is the length of the energy interval where the change in spectral index develops. In this work we discuss the best way to define and parameterize the width a spectral feature, and for illustration discuss some of the most prominent known structures.

Cosmic-ray neutron simulations and measurements in Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wei-Lin; Jiang, Shiang-Huei; Sheu, Rong-Jiun

2014-01-01

This study used simulations of galactic cosmic ray in the atmosphere to investigate the neutron background environment in Taiwan, emphasising its altitude dependence and spectrum variation near interfaces. The calculated results were analysed and compared with two measurements. The first measurement was a mobile neutron survey from sea level up to 3275 m in altitude conducted using a car-mounted high-sensitivity neutron detector. The second was a previous measured result focusing on the changes in neutron spectra near air/ground and air/water interfaces. The attenuation length of cosmic-ray neutrons in the lower atmosphere was estimated to be 163 g cm -2 in Taiwan. Cosmic-ray neutron spectra vary with altitude and especially near interfaces. The determined spectra near the air/ground and air/water interfaces agree well with measurements for neutrons below 10 MeV. However, the high-energy portion of spectra was observed to be much higher than our previous estimation. Because high-energy neutrons contribute substantially to a dose evaluation, revising the annual sea-level effective dose from cosmic-ray neutrons at ground level in Taiwan to 35 μSv, which corresponds to a neutron flux of 5.30 x 10 -3 n cm -2 s -1 , was suggested. The cosmic-ray neutron background in Taiwan was studied using the FLUKA simulations and field measurements. A new measurement was performed using a car-mounted high-efficiency neutron detector, re-coding real-time neutron counting rates from sea level up to 3275 m. The attenuation of cosmic-ray neutrons in the lower atmosphere exhibited an effective attenuation length of 163 g cm -2 . The calculated neutron counting rates over predicted the measurements by ∼32 %, which leaded to a correction factor for the FLUKA-calculated cosmic-ray neutrons in the lower atmosphere in Taiwan. In addition, a previous measurement regarding neutron spectrum variation near the air/ground and air/water interfaces was re-evaluated. The results showed that the

Balloon test project: Cosmic Ray Antimatter Calorimeter (CRAC)

Science.gov (United States)

Christy, J. C.; Dhenain, G.; Goret, P.; Jorand, J.; Masse, P.; Mestreau, P.; Petrou, N.; Robin, A.

1984-01-01

Cosmic ray observations from balloon flights are discussed. The cosmic ray antimatter calorimeter (CRAC) experiment attempts to measure the flux of antimatter in the 200-600 Mev/m energy range and the isotopes of light elements between 600 and 1,000 Mev/m.

Key scientific problems from Cosmic Ray History

Science.gov (United States)

Lev, Dorman

2016-07-01

young scientist from the Graz University, started to investigate how γ-radiations change their intensity with the distance from their sources, i.e. from the ground. When he performed his historical experiments on balloons in 1911-1912, it was found that at the beginning (up to approximately one km) ionization did not change, but with increase of the altitude for up to 4 - 5 km, the ionization rate escalates several times. Victor Hess drew a conclusion that some new unknown source of ionization of extra terrestrial origin exists. He named it 'high altitude radiation'. 5. Many scientists did not agree with this conclusion and tried to prove that the discovered new radiation has terrestrial origin (e.g., radium and other emanations from radioactive substances in the ground, particle acceleration up to high energies during thunderstorms, and so on). However, a lot of experiments showed that Victor Hess's findings are right: the discovered new radiation has extra terrestrial origin. 6. In 1926 the great American scientist Robert Millikan named them 'cosmic rays': cosmic as coming from space, and rays because it was generally wrongly accepted at those time that the new radiation mostly consisted of γ-rays. Robert Millikan believed that God exists and continues to work: in space God has creates He atoms from four atoms of H with the generation high energy gamma rays (in contradiction with physical laws, as this reaction can occur only at very high temperature and great density, e.g., as inside stars). 7. On this problem, interesting to many people, there was a famous public discussion between two Nobel laureates Arthur Compton and Robert Millikan, widely reported in newspapers. Only after a lot of latitude surveys in the 1930s, organized mostly by Compton and Millikan, it became clear that 'cosmic rays' are mostly not γ-rays, but rather charged particles (based on Störmer's theory about behavior of charged energetic particles in the geomagnetic field, developed in 1910

Development of cosmic-ray radiography with nuclear emulsion and its applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morishima, Kunihiro

2017-01-01

We are developing cosmic-ray radiography with nuclear emulsion. Cosmic-ray radiography is non-destructive inspection technology to take image of inner structure of gigantic objects (nuclear reactor, pyramids, volcanoes and so on). We conducted cosmic-ray radiography of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant from 2014 to 2015 and are conducting cosmic-ray radiography of Pyramids at Egypt from 2015. In this paper, technical details and latest results are presented. (author)

Department of Cosmic Radiation Physics: Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabelski, J.

2000-01-01

Full text: Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the area of high-energy physics and cosmic ray physics related to: -Studies of asymptotic properties of hadronic interactions based on the analysis of cosmic ray propagation through the atmosphere. -Experimental and phenomenological studies of Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic ray particles. - Search for high-energy cosmic ray point sources. - Studies of cosmic ray propagation in the Galaxy and particle acceleration mechanisms. -Studies of mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 -10 17 eV. Theoretical and experimental studies of Extensive Air Shower properties are performed mainly on the basis of the results obtained by the Lodz Extensive Air Shower Array. We have analysed nearly 100,000 events of energies above 10 15 eV registered in the Lodz hodoscope. We have developed a method to verify different models of cosmic ray mass composition. The Lodz group collaborates with many foreign institutes and laboratories in construction and data interpretation of cosmic ray experiments. Our most important partners are: Forschungszentrum in Karlsruhe (Germany), College de France, Institute for Nuclear Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Uppsala University (Sweden). (author)

About cosmic gamma ray lines

Science.gov (United States)

Diehl, Roland

2017-06-01

Gamma ray lines from cosmic sources convey the action of nuclear reactions in cosmic sites and their impacts on astrophysical objects. Gamma rays at characteristic energies result from nuclear transitions following radioactive decays or high-energy collisions with excitation of nuclei. The gamma-ray line from the annihilation of positrons at 511 keV falls into the same energy window, although of different origin. We present here the concepts of cosmic gamma ray spectrometry and the corresponding instruments and missions, followed by a discussion of recent results and the challenges and open issues for the future. Among the lessons learned are the diffuse radioactive afterglow of massive-star nucleosynthesis in 26Al and 60Fe gamma rays, which is now being exploited towards the cycle of matter driven by massive stars and their supernovae; large interstellar cavities and superbubbles have been recognised to be of key importance here. Also, constraints on the complex processes making stars explode as either thermonuclear or core-collapse supernovae are being illuminated by gamma-ray lines, in this case from shortlived radioactivities from 56Ni and 44Ti decays. In particular, the three-dimensionality and asphericities that have recently been recognised as important are enlightened in different ways through such gamma-ray line spectroscopy. Finally, the distribution of positron annihilation gamma ray emission with its puzzling bulge-dominated intensity disctribution is measured through spatially-resolved spectra, which indicate that annihilation conditions may differ in different parts of our Galaxy. But it is now understood that a variety of sources may feed positrons into the interstellar medium, and their characteristics largely get lost during slowing down and propagation of positrons before annihilation; a recent microquasar flare was caught as an opportunity to see positrons annihilate at a source.

Ultra high energy cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, A.A.

1986-01-01

Cosmic radiation was discovered 70 years ago but its origin remains an open question. The background to this problem is outlined and attempts to discover the origin of the most energetic and rarest group above 10 15 eV are described. Measurements of the energy spectrum and arrival direction pattern of the very highest energy particles, mean energy about 6 x 10 19 eV, are used to argue that these particles originate outside our galaxy. Recent evidence from the new field of ultra high energy γ-ray astronomy are discussed in the context of a galactic origin hypothesis for lower energy cosmic rays. (author)

Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays from nearby starburst galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Attallah, Reda; Bouchachi, Dallel

2018-04-01

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 originate from nearby starburst galaxies, a scenario that matches the recent observation by the Telescope Array experiment of a cosmic-ray hotspot above 57 EeV not far from the direction of the starburst galaxy M82. Specifically, we study the stochastic propagation in space of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays through the state-of-the-art simulation framework CRPropa 3, taking into account all relevant particle interactions as well as deflections by the intervening magnetic fields. To ensure a comprehensive understanding of this model, we consider the energy spectrum, the cosmogenic neutrinos and gamma rays, and the distribution of arrival directions. The starburst galaxy scenario reproduces well observations from both the Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatories, making it very attractive for explaining the origin of cosmic rays at the highest energies.

Department of Cosmic Radiation Physics: Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gawin, J.

1999-01-01

Full text: The Department of Cosmic Ray Physics in Lodz is involved in basic research in the area of high energy physics and cosmic ray physics related to: - Studies of asymptotic properties of hadronic interactions based on the analysis of cosmic ray propagation in the atmosphere. - Experimental and phenomenological studies of Extensive Air Showers induced by cosmic ray particles. - Search for point sources of high energy cosmic rays. - Studies of cosmic ray propagation in the Galaxy and mechanisms of particle acceleration. - Studies of mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range 10 15 - 10 17 eV. Theoretical and experimental studies of Extensive Air Shower properties are performed mostly based on the results obtained by the Lodz Extensive Air Shower Array. We analysed nearly 100,000 events of energies above 10 15 eV registered by the Lodz hodoscope. We have developed the method of data analysis which allows us to verify different models of cosmic ray mass composition. In our research in high energy cosmic rays we also used experimental data from other collaborating experiments in Karlsruhe, Baksan and THEMISTOCLE. The Lodz group collaborates with many foreign institutes and laboratories in construction and data interpretation of cosmic ray experiments. Our most important partners are: Forschungszentrum in Karlsruhe (Germany), College de France, Institute for Nuclear Studies of the Russian Academy of Science, University of Perpignan and Uppsala University (Sweden). (author)

Interaction of clouds with the hot interstellar medium (HIM) and cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voelk, H.J.

1983-01-01

The modification, by cosmic rays, of the interaction of interstellar clouds with the ambient HIM is considered. Small clouds should still evaporate and thereby exclude cosmic rays if they do so without cosmic rays. The possible mass accretion of massice clouds is reduced by the pressure of the compressed cosmic rays. The consequences for diffuse galactic #betta#-ray emisison are discussed. (orig.)

Modulation of Cosmic Ray Precipitation Related to Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Feynman, J.; Ruzmaikin, A.

1998-01-01

High energy cosmic rays may influence the formation of clouds, and thus can have an impact on weather and climate. Cosmic rays in the solar wind are incident on the magnetosphere boundary and are then transmitted through the magnetosphere and atmosphere to reach the upper troposphere.

Cosmic Ray Results from the CosmoALEPH Experiment

CERN Document Server

Grupen, C; Jost, B; Maciuc, F; Luitz, S; Mailov, A; Müller, A S; Putzer, A; Rensch, B; Sander, H G; Schmeling, S; Schmelling, M; Tcaciuc, R; Wachsmuth, H; Ziegler, T; Zuber, K

2008-01-01

CosmoALEPH is an experiment operated in conjunction with the ALEPH detector. The ALEPH experiment took data from 1989 until the year 2000 at the Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) at CERN. It provides, among others, high resolution tracking and calorimetry. CosmoALEPH used this e+e− detector for cosmic ray studies. In addition, six scintillator telescopes were installed in the ALEPH pit and the LEP tunnel. The whole experiment operated underground at a vertical depth of 320 meter water equivalent. Data from ALEPH and the scintillator telescopes provide informaton on the lateral distribution of energetic cosmic ray muons in extensive air showers. The decoherence curve of these remnant air shower muons is sensitive to the chemical composition of primary cosmic rays and to the interaction characteristics of energetic hadrons in the atmosphere. An attempt is made to extract the various interdependencies in describing the propagation of primary and secondary cosmic rays through the atmosphere and the rock ov...

Measurements of the isotopic composition of galactic cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrstroem, N.Y.

1985-01-01

The galactic cosmic-ray boron and carbon isotopic composition has been measured. The boron measurement is the first ever made in nuclear emulsion. The carbon measurement has substantially improved the statistical assuracy in the determination of the 13 C abundance as compared to an earlier measurement using the same technique. Mass-spectra of cosmic-ray carbon and oxygen in different zenith angle intervals have been compared with calculated spectra. The method makes it possible to study experimentally the atmospheric influence on the primary cosmic-ray isotopic composition. Photometric measurements on fragments from oxygen-induced interactions in nuclear emulsion have been made. Accurate charge assignments have been made on all heavy fragments which has made it possible to study the interaction exclusively event-by-event. Measurements on the isotopic composition of primary cosmic-ray neom have been made. The data are from the Danish-French instrument on the HEAO-3 satellite. The rigidity dependent filtering of the cosmic rays by the Earth's magnetic field has been used. The energy dependence of the 22 Ne/ 20 Ne-ratio and its astrophysical implications are discussed. (Author)

Summary of super high energy events and exotic phenomena in cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyake, S.

1979-01-01

In this report, the features of superhigh energy events and exotic phenomena are presented. The examples obtained with emulsion chambers show clear trend of change in the hadron interaction characteristics with energy. The scaling law is violated in the very high energy region above 10 15 eV. In the energy region from 10 to 100 TeV, there is mild violation of scaling. The cosmic ray data on the diffusion of high energy particles in the atmosphere was used to study the mild violation of scaling. It is not easy to discuss the violation in the energy region higher than 10 15 eV, because such event can be obtained very rarely. The only method is the observation of extensive air showers. The relation of average transverse momenta to primary cosmic ray energy was compared with some accelerator data. The cosmic ray data tend to show smaller momentum values. The energy spectrum of cosmic ray muons can be measured by the underground observation, the observation of muon-production burst with emulsion chambers, or the observation of horizontal air showers. Analysis of this spectrum shows that there is an upper limit for the direct production of muons at primary energy of several times of 10 14 eV. Other support for the change of interaction character at 10 14 eV is seen. Possible examples of heavy lepton events were found in the deep underground observation. In deep underground observation, anomalous showers with energy content larger than several hundred GeV were observed. Comment on the long tail nuclear cascade is presented. Some experiments for future are introduced. (Kato, T.)

Signatures of cosmic-ray interactions on the solar surface

Science.gov (United States)

Seckel, D.; Stanev, Todor; Gaisser, T. K.

1991-01-01

The fluxes of neutrinos, gamma rays, antiprotons, neutrons, and antineutrons that result from collisions of high-energy Galactic cosmic rays with the solar atmosphere are estimated. The results are sensitive to assumptions about cosmic-ray transport in the magnetic fields of the inner solar system. The high-energy photon flux should be observable by the Gamma Ray Observatory. The neutrino flux should produce less than one event per year in the next generation of neutrino telescopes. The antiproton flux is unobservable against the Galactic background. The neutron and antineutron fluxes are detectable only if neutrons produced in terrestrial cosmic-ray events may be discriminated against.

COSMIC-RAY AND X-RAY HEATING OF INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS AND PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glassgold, Alfred E.; Galli, Daniele; Padovani, Marco

2012-01-01

Cosmic-ray and X-ray heating are derived from the electron energy-loss calculations of Dalgarno, Yan, and Liu for hydrogen-helium gas mixtures. These authors treated the heating from elastic scattering and collisional de-excitation of rotationally excited hydrogen molecules. Here we consider the heating that can arise from all ionization and excitation processes, with particular emphasis on the reactions of cosmic-ray and X-ray generated ions with the heavy neutral species, which we refer to as chemical heating. In molecular regions, chemical heating dominates and can account for 50% of the energy expended in the creation of an ion pair. The heating per ion pair ranges in the limit of negligible electron fraction from ∼4.3 eV for diffuse atomic gas to ∼13 eV for the moderately dense regions of molecular clouds and to ∼18 eV for the very dense regions of protoplanetary disks. An important general conclusion of this study is that cosmic-ray and X-ray heating depends on the physical properties of the medium, i.e., on the molecular and electron fractions, the total density of hydrogen nuclei, and, to a lesser extent, on the temperature. It is also noted that chemical heating, the dominant process for cosmic-ray and X-ray heating, plays a role in UV irradiated molecular gas.

Charge composition of cosmic rays between 4 and 100 GV

Science.gov (United States)

Golden, R. L.; Adams, J. H.; Badhwar, G. D.; Deney, C. L.; Lindstrom, P. J.; Heckman, H. H.

1974-01-01

Balloon-flight measurements were used to determine ratios of cosmic-ray L nuclei (charge Z ranging from 3 to 5) to M nuclei (Z ranging from 6 to 8) and of VH nuclei (Z from 20 to 27) to M nuclei using a magnetic spectrometer. The purpose of the measurements was to establish whether both ratios vary with rigidity as this would provide evidence for more than one basic acceleration mechanism. The results provide no indication that the VH spectrum is steeper than the M spectrum.

Cosmic physics: the high energy frontier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stecker, F W

2003-01-01

Cosmic rays have been observed up to energies 10 8 times larger than those of the best particle accelerators. Studies of astrophysical particles (hadrons, neutrinos and photons) at their highest observed energies have implications for fundamental physics as well as astrophysics. Thus, the cosmic high energy frontier is the nexus to new particle physics. This overview discusses recent advances being made in the physics and astrophysics of cosmic rays and cosmic γ-rays at the highest observed energies as well as the related physics and astrophysics of very high energy cosmic neutrinos. These topics touch on questions of grand unification, violations of Lorentz invariance as well as Planck scale physics and quantum gravity. (topical review)

Cosmic Rays in Magnetospheres of the Earth and other Planets

CERN Document Server

Dorman, Lev

2009-01-01

This monograph describes the behaviour of cosmic rays in the magnetosphere of the Earth and of some other planets. Recently this has become an important topic both theoretically, because it is closely connected with the physics of the Earth’s magnetosphere, and practically, since cosmic rays determine a significant part of space weather effects on satellites and aircraft. The book contains eight chapters, dealing with – The history of the discovery of geomagnetic effects caused by cosmic rays and their importance for the determination of the nature of cosmic rays or gamma rays – The first explanations of geomagnetic effects within the framework of the dipole approximation of the Earth’s magnetic field – Trajectory computations of cutoff rigidities, transmittance functions, asymptotic directions, and acceptance cones in the real geomagnetic field taking into account higher harmonics – Cosmic ray latitude-longitude surveys on ships, trains, tracks, planes, balloons and satellites for determining the...

Measurement of cosmic-ray reconstruction efficiencies in the MicroBooNE LArTPC using a small external cosmic-ray counter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Acciarri, R.; et al.

2017-07-31

The MicroBooNE detector is a liquid argon time projection chamber at Fermilab designed to study short-baseline neutrino oscillations and neutrino-argon interaction cross-section. Due to its location near the surface, a good understanding of cosmic muons as a source of backgrounds is of fundamental importance for the experiment. We present a method of using an external 0.5 m (L) x 0.5 m (W) muon counter stack, installed above the main detector, to determine the cosmic-ray reconstruction efficiency in MicroBooNE. Data are acquired with this external muon counter stack placed in three different positions, corresponding to cosmic rays intersecting different parts of the detector. The data reconstruction efficiency of tracks in the detector is found to be $\\epsilon_{\\mathrm{data}}=(97.1\\pm0.1~(\\mathrm{stat}) \\pm 1.4~(\\mathrm{sys}))\\%$, in good agreement with the Monte Carlo reconstruction efficiency $\\epsilon_{\\mathrm{MC}} = (97.4\\pm0.1)\\%$. This analysis represents a small-scale demonstration of the method that can be used with future data coming from a recently installed cosmic-ray tagger system, which will be able to tag $\\approx80\\%$ of the cosmic rays passing through the MicroBooNE detector.

Modulation of cosmic rays with particular reference to the Hermanus neutron monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoker, P.H.

1982-01-01

Investigations at Potchefstroom has directed interest to the interaction between cosmic rays and the interplanetary magnetic field. In this paper the period of increasing modulation of cosmic rays from 1976 is discussed. The geomagnetic field as spectrometer for primary cosmic rays will be discussed and applied to the latitude surveys of 1975 and 1976. Features of the coronal magnetic field, the solar wind with interplanetary magnetic field and the transport of cosmic rays in the interplanetary magnetic field are outlined in order to relate cosmic ray recordings of fixed groundlevel stations to observations made in outerspace by space crafts and satellites and to explain these recordings in terms of cosmic ray modulation processes

Heavy ion irradiation of crystalline water ice. Cosmic ray amorphisation cross-section and sputtering yield

Science.gov (United States)

Dartois, E.; Augé, B.; Boduch, P.; Brunetto, R.; Chabot, M.; Domaracka, A.; Ding, J. J.; Kamalou, O.; Lv, X. Y.; Rothard, H.; da Silveira, E. F.; Thomas, J. C.

2015-04-01

Context. Under cosmic irradiation, the interstellar water ice mantles evolve towards a compact amorphous state. Crystalline ice amorphisation was previously monitored mainly in the keV to hundreds of keV ion energies. Aims: We experimentally investigate heavy ion irradiation amorphisation of crystalline ice, at high energies closer to true cosmic rays, and explore the water-ice sputtering yield. Methods: We irradiated thin crystalline ice films with MeV to GeV swift ion beams, produced at the GANIL accelerator. The ice infrared spectral evolution as a function of fluence is monitored with in-situ infrared spectroscopy (induced amorphisation of the initial crystalline state into a compact amorphous phase). Results: The crystalline ice amorphisation cross-section is measured in the high electronic stopping-power range for different temperatures. At large fluence, the ice sputtering is measured on the infrared spectra, and the fitted sputtering-yield dependence, combined with previous measurements, is quadratic over three decades of electronic stopping power. Conclusions: The final state of cosmic ray irradiation for porous amorphous and crystalline ice, as monitored by infrared spectroscopy, is the same, but with a large difference in cross-section, hence in time scale in an astrophysical context. The cosmic ray water-ice sputtering rates compete with the UV photodesorption yields reported in the literature. The prevalence of direct cosmic ray sputtering over cosmic-ray induced photons photodesorption may be particularly true for ices strongly bonded to the ice mantles surfaces, such as hydrogen-bonded ice structures or more generally the so-called polar ices. Experiments performed at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL) Caen, France. Part of this work has been financed by the French INSU-CNRS programme "Physique et Chimie du Milieu Interstellaire" (PCMI) and the ANR IGLIAS.

Role of Turbulent Damping in Cosmic Ray Galactic Winds

Science.gov (United States)

Holguin, Francisco; Ruszkowski, Mateusz; Lazarian, Alex; Yang, H. Y. Karen

2018-06-01

Large-scale galactic winds driven by stellar feedback are one phenomenon that influences the dynamical and chemical evolution of a galaxy, pushing and redistributing material throughout the interstellar medium (ISM) and galactic halo. A detailed understanding of the exact physical mechanisms responsible for these winds is lacking. Non-thermal feedback from galactic cosmic rays (CR), high-energy charged particles accelerated in supernovae and young stars, can impact the efficiency in accelerating the wind. In the self-confinement model, CR stream along magnetic field lines at the Alfven speed due to scattering off self-excited Aflv{é}n waves. However, magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence stirred up by stellar feedback dissipates these confining waves, allowing CR to be super Aflvenic. Previous simulations relying on a simplified model of transport have shown that super-Alfv{é}nic streaming of CRs can launch a stronger wind. We perform three-dimensional MHD simulations of a section of a galactic disk, including CR streaming dependent on the local environment, using a realistic model of turbulent dissipation of Alfven waves presented in Lazarian (2016). In this implementation, the CR streaming speed can be super Alfv{é}nic depending on local conditions. We compare results for Alfv{é}nic and locally determined streaming, and find that gas/CR distributions and instantaneous mass loading factor of the wind are different depending on the level of turbulence.Lazarian, A. “Damping of Alfven waves by turbulence and its consequences: from cosmic-ray streaming to launching winds.” ApJ. Vol. 833, Num. 2. (2016).

Constraining heavy dark matter with cosmic-ray antiprotons

Science.gov (United States)

Cuoco, Alessandro; Heisig, Jan; Korsmeier, Michael; Krämer, Michael

2018-04-01

Cosmic-ray observations provide a powerful probe of dark matter annihilation in the Galaxy. In this paper we derive constraints on heavy dark matter from the recent precise AMS-02 antiproton data. We consider all possible annihilation channels into pairs of standard model particles. Furthermore, we interpret our results in the context of minimal dark matter, including higgsino, wino and quintuplet dark matter. We compare the cosmic-ray antiproton limits to limits from γ-ray observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies and to limits from γ-ray and γ-line observations towards the Galactic center. While the latter limits are highly dependent on the dark matter density distribution and only exclude a thermal wino for cuspy profiles, the cosmic-ray limits are more robust, strongly disfavoring the thermal wino dark matter scenario even for a conservative estimate of systematic uncertainties.

Quasars as Sources of Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glushkov, A.V.

2005-01-01

The results are presented that were obtained by analyzing arrival directions for cosmic rays that the Yakutsk array for studying extensive air showers recorded between 1974 and 2002 in the energy region E 0 ≥5x10 17 eV for zenith angles in the region θ ≤60 deg. . It is shown that quasars for which the redshift lies in the region z≤2.5 can be sources of these cosmic rays. Ordered structures are observed in the disposition of quasars and in the cosmic-ray arrival directions. These structures can be associated in one way or another with the large-scale structure of the Universe

ATLAS and ultra high energy cosmic ray physics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pinfold James

2017-01-01

Full Text Available After a brief introduction to extended air shower cosmic ray physics the current and future deployment of forward detectors at ATLAS is discussed along with the various aspects of the current and future ATLAS programs to explore hadronic physics. The emphasis is placed on those results and future plans that have particular relevance for high-energy, and ultra high-energy, cosmic ray physics. The possible use of ATLAS as an “underground” cosmic muon observatory is briefly considered.

Transition-radiation detectors for cosmic-ray research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, D.; Chicago Univ., Ill.

1975-01-01

Transition-radiation detectors for cosmic-ray work are described which consist of plastic foam of multiple plastic foil radiators, followed by proportional chambers. A summary of the properties of such detectors is given, and the detection and discrimination efficiencies for energetic particles are discussed. Several possible applications of such devices for studies of cosmic-ray particles in the energy region γ=E/mc 2 >10 3 are advertised

Study of cosmic rays reveals secrets of solar-terrestrial science

Science.gov (United States)

Jokipii, J. R.

For many years cosmic rays provided the most important source of energetic particles for studies of subatomic physics. Today, cosmic rays are being studied as a natural phenomenon that can tell us much about both the Earth's environment in space and distant astrophysical processes. Cosmic rays are naturally occurring energetic particles—mainly ions—with kinetic energies extending from just above thermal energies to more than 1020 electron volts (eV). They constantly bombard the Earth from all directions, with more than 1018 particles having energies >1 MeV striking the top of the Earth's atmosphere each second. Figure 1 illustrates the continuous cosmic ray energy spectrum.

Markov Stochastic Technique to Determine Galactic Cosmic Ray ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A new numerical model of particle propagation in the Galaxy has been developed, which allows the study of cosmic-ray production and propagation in 2D. The model has been used to solve cosmic ray diffusive transport equation with a complete network of nuclear interactions using the time backward Markov stochastic ...

Cosmic Ray induced Neutron and Gamma-Ray bursts in a Lead Pile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapline, G; Hagmann, C; Kerr, P; Snyderman, N J; Wurtz, R

2007-01-01

The neutron background is created primarily by cosmic rays interactions. Of particular interest for SNM detection is an understanding of burst events that resemble fission chains. We have been studying the interaction of cosmic rays with a lead pile that is efficient at creating neutron bursts from cosmic ray interactions. The neutron burst size depends on the configuration of the lead. We have found that the largest bursts appear to have been created by primaries of energy over 100 GeV that have had a diffractive interaction with the atmosphere. The large events trigger muon coincidence paddles with very high efficiency, and the resulting interactions with the lead pile can create over 10, 000 neutrons in a burst

Mass composition studies of Ultra High Energy cosmic rays through the measurement of the Muon Production Depths at the Pierre Auger Observatory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Collica, Laura [Univ. of Milan (Italy); Paris Diderot Univ. (France)

2014-01-01

The Pierre Auger Observatory (Auger) in Argentina studies Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) physics. The flux of cosmic rays at these energies (above 1018 eV) is very low (less than 100 particle/km2-year) and UHECR properties must be inferred from the measurements of the secondary particles that the cosmic ray primary produces in the atmosphere. These particles cascades are called Extensive Air Showers (EAS) and can be studied at ground by deploying detectors covering large areas. The EAS physics is complex, and the properties of secondary particles depend strongly on the first interaction, which takes place at an energy beyond the ones reached at accelerators. As a consequence, the analysis of UHECRs is subject to large uncertainties and hence many of their properties, in particular their composition, are still unclear. Two complementary techniques are used at Auger to detect EAS initiated by UHE- CRs: a 3000 km2 surface detector (SD) array of water Cherenkov tanks which samples particles at ground level and fluorescence detectors (FD) which collect the ultraviolet light emitted by the de-excitation of nitrogen nuclei in the atmosphere, and can operate only in clear, moonless nights. Auger is the largest cosmic rays detector ever built and it provides high-quality data together with unprecedented statistics. The main goal of this thesis is the measurement of UHECR mass composition using data from the SD of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Measuring the cosmic ray composition at the highest energies is of fundamental importance from the astrophysical point of view, since it could discriminate between different scenarios of origin and propagation of cosmic rays. Moreover, mass composition studies are of utmost importance for particle physics. As a matter of fact, knowing the composition helps in exploring the hadronic interactions at ultra-high energies, inaccessible to present accelerator experiments.

Cosmic ray injection spectrum at the galactic sources

Science.gov (United States)

Lagutin, Anatoly; Tyumentsev, Alexander; Volkov, Nikolay

The spectra of cosmic rays measured at Earth are different from their source spectra. A key to understanding this difference, being crucial for solving the problem of cosmic-ray origin, is the determination of how cosmic-ray (CR) particles propagate through the turbulent interstellar medium (ISM). If the medium is a quasi-homogeneous the propagation process can be described by a normal diffusion model. However, during a last few decades many evidences, both from theory and observations, of the existence of multiscale structures in the Galaxy have been found. Filaments, shells, clouds are entities widely spread in the ISM. In such a highly non-homogeneous (fractal-like) ISM the normal diffusion model certainly is not kept valid. Generalization of this model leads to what is known as "anomalous diffusion". The main goal of the report is to retrieve the cosmic ray injection spectrum at the galactic sources in the framework of the anomalous diffusion (AD) model. The anomaly in this model results from large free paths ("Levy flights") of particles between galactic inhomogeneities. In order to evaluate the CR spectrum at the sources, we carried out new calculation of the CR spectra at Earth. AD equation in terms of fractional derivatives have been used to describe CR propagation from the nearby (r≤1 kpc) young (t≤ 1 Myr) and multiple old distant (r > 1 kpc) sources. The assessment of the key model parameters have been based on the results of the particles diffusion in the cosmic and laboratory plasma. We show that in the framework of the anomalous diffusion model the locally observed basic features of the cosmic rays (difference between spectral exponents of proton, He and other nuclei, "knee" problem, positron to electron ratio) can be explained if the injection spectrum at the main galactic sources of cosmic rays has spectral exponent p˜ 2.85. The authors acknowledge support from The Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant No. 14-02-31524.

ACTINIDE AND ULTRA-HEAVY ABUNDANCES IN THE LOCAL GALACTIC COSMIC RAYS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS FROM THE LDEF ULTRA-HEAVY COSMIC-RAY EXPERIMENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donnelly, J. [Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), School of Physics, Kevin Street, Dublin 8 (Ireland); Thompson, A.; O' Sullivan, D.; Daly, J.; Drury, L. [School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 (Ireland); Domingo, V.; Wenzel, K.-P. [European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, Postbus 299, 2200 AG Noordwijk (Netherlands)

2012-03-01

The LDEF Ultra-Heavy Cosmic-Ray Experiment (UHCRE) detected Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) of charge Z {>=} 70 in Earth orbit with an exposure factor of 170 m{sup 2} sr yr, much larger than any other experiment. The major results include the first statistically significant uniform sample of GCR actinides with 35 events passing quality cuts, evidence for the existence of transuranic nuclei in the GCR with one {sub 96}Cm candidate event, and a low {sub 82}Pb/{sub 78}Pt ratio consistent with other experiments. The probability of the existence of a transuranic component is estimated as 96%, while the most likely {sub 92}U/{sub 90}Th ratio is found to be 0.4 within a wide 70% confidence interval ranging from 0 to 0.96. Overall, the results are consistent with a volatility-based acceleration bias and source material which is mainly ordinary interstellar medium material with some recent contamination by freshly synthesized material. Uncertainty in the key {sub 92}U/{sub 90}Th ratio is dominated by statistical errors resulting from the small sample size and any improved determination will thus require an experiment with a substantially larger exposure factor than the UHCRE.

Cosmic-ray sum rules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frandsen, Mads T.; Masina, Isabella; Sannino, Francesco

2011-01-01

We introduce new sum rules allowing to determine universal properties of the unknown component of the cosmic rays; we show how they can be used to predict the positron fraction at energies not yet explored by current experiments, and to constrain specific models.

Experimental Summary: Very High Energy Cosmic Rays and their Interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kampert Karl-Heinz

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The XVII International Symposium on Very High Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions, held in August of 2012 in Berlin, was the first one in the history of the Symposium,where a plethora of high precision LHC data with relevance for cosmic ray physics was presented. This report aims at giving a brief summary of those measurements andit discusses their relevance for observations of high energy cosmic rays. Enormous progress has been made also in air shower observations and in direct measurements of cosmic rays, exhibiting many more structure in the cosmic ray energy spectrum than just a simple power law with a knee and an ankle. At the highest energy, the flux suppression may not be dominated by the GZK-effect but by the limiting energy of a nearby source or source population. New projects and application of new technologies promise further advances also in the near future. We shall discuss the experimental and theoretical progress in the field and its prospects for coming years.

Feasibility study of a level gauge using cosmic-rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Hideharu; Fukaya, Mitsuharu; Minato, Susumu

1989-01-01

Cosmic-ray intensities were measured at the stairs in a subway station in Nagoya City, inside a tall concrete building and under a cylindrical water tank to examine the feasibility of a cosmic-ray level gauge using a scintillation counter. The measured results agreed quite well with theoretical calculations. The maximum distinguishable water depth was evaluated to be approximately the radius of the tank from the results of many systematic calculations. It was found from these results that the practical application of a cosmic-ray level gauge is feasible. (author)

OBSERVATIONS OF HIGH-ENERGY COSMIC-RAY ELECTRONS FROM 30 GeV TO 3 TeV WITH EMULSION CHAMBERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kobayashi, T. [Department of Physics and Mathematics, Aoyama Gakuin University, Sagamihara 252-5258 (Japan); Komori, Y. [Faculty of Health and Social Services, Kanagawa University of Human Services, Yokosuka 238-0013 (Japan); Yoshida, K.; Yanagisawa, K. [College of Systems Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Saitama 337-8570 (Japan); Nishimura, J.; Yamagami, T.; Saito, Y. [Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara 229-8510 (Japan); Tateyama, N. [Faculty of Engineering, Kanagawa University, Yokohama 221-8686 (Japan); Yuda, T. [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8582 (Japan); Wilkes, R. J., E-mail: tadasik-112850@jasper.dti.ne.jp, E-mail: komori-y@kuhs.ac.jp, E-mail: yoshida@shibaura-it.ac.jp, E-mail: nisimura@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp, E-mail: tateyama@n.kanagawa-u.ac.jp, E-mail: yuda@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp, E-mail: wilkes@u.washington.edu [Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1560 (United States)

2012-12-01

We have performed a series of cosmic-ray electron observations using balloon-borne emulsion chambers since 1968. While we previously reported the results from subsets of the exposures, the final results of the total exposures up to 2001 are presented here. Our successive experiments have yielded a total exposure of 8.19 m{sup 2} sr day at altitudes of 4.0-9.4 g cm{sup -2}. The performance of the emulsion chambers was examined by accelerator beam tests and Monte Carlo simulations, and the on-board calibrations were carried out by using the flight data. In this work, we present the cosmic-ray electron spectrum in the energy range from 30 GeV to 3 TeV at the top of the atmosphere, which is well represented by a power-law function with an index of -3.28 {+-} 0.10. The observed data can also be interpreted in terms of diffusive propagation models. The evidence of cosmic-ray electrons up to 3 TeV suggests the existence of cosmic-ray electron sources at distances within {approx}1 kpc and times within {approx}1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 5} yr ago.

Cosmic Ray Data in TRT Barrel

CERN Multimedia

M. Hance

"I had a great day in August when I went into SR1," said Daniel Froidevaux, former project leader of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker, "not only had all SCT barrels arrived at CERN, but there were cosmic ray tracks seen in the TRT!" Daniel's excitement was mirrored by the rest of the TRT collaboration when, on July 29, the first cosmic ray tracks were seen in the barrel. Along with many others in the community, Daniel was quick to point out that this is the cumulative result of years of R&D, test beam work, and an intense installation and integration schedule. Indeed, the cosmic ray readout is only possible through the coordination of many efforts, from detector mechanics to module assembly, power and high voltage control, cooling, gas systems, electronics and cabling, data acquisition, and monitoring. "Many people have worked very hard on the the TRT, some of them for more than 10 years," said Brig Williams, the leader of the UPenn group responsible for much of the TRT front end electronics. He ...

Cosmic rays and climate

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2009-01-01

The current understanding of climate change in the industrial age is that it is predominantly caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases, with relatively small natural contributions due to solar irradiance and volcanoes. However, palaeoclimatic reconstructions show that the climate has frequently varied on 100-year time scales during the Holocene (last 10 kyr) by amounts comparable to the present warming - and yet the mechanism or mechanisms are not understood. Some of these reconstructions show clear associations with solar variability, which is recorded in the light radio-isotope archives that measure past variations of cosmic ray intensity. However, despite the increasing evidence of its importance, solar-climate variability is likely to remain controversial until a physical mechanism is established. Estimated changes of solar irradiance on these time scales appear to be too small to account for the climate observations. This raises the question of whether cosmic rays may directly affect the climate, provi...

Cosmological cosmic rays: Sharpening the primordial lithium problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prodanovic, Tijana; Fields, Brian D.

2007-01-01

Cosmic structure formation leads to large-scale shocked baryonic flows which are expected to produce a cosmological population of structure-formation cosmic rays (SFCRs). Interactions between SFCRs and ambient baryons will produce lithium isotopes via α+α→ 6,7 Li. This pre-galactic (but nonprimordial) lithium should contribute to the primordial 7 Li measured in halo stars and must be subtracted in order to arrive to the true observed primordial lithium abundance. In this paper we point out that the recent halo star 6 Li measurements can be used to place a strong constraint to the level of such contamination, because the exclusive astrophysical production of 6 Li is from cosmic-ray interactions. We find that the putative 6 Li plateau, if due to pre-galactic cosmic-ray interactions, implies that SFCR-produced lithium represents Li SFCR /Li plateau ≅15% of the observed elemental Li plateau. Taking the remaining plateau Li to be cosmological 7 Li, we find a revised (and slightly worsened) discrepancy between the Li observations and big bang nucleosynthesis predictions by a factor of 7 Li BBN / 7 Li plateau ≅3.7. Moreover, SFCRs would also contribute to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGRB) through neutral pion production. This gamma-ray production is tightly related to the amount of lithium produced by the same cosmic rays; the 6 Li plateau limits the pre-galactic (high-redshift) SFCR contribution to be at the level of I γ π SFCR /I EGRB < or approx. 5% of the currently observed EGRB

PREFACE: 23rd European Cosmic Ray Symposium (and 32nd Russian Cosmic Ray Conference)

Science.gov (United States)

Erlykin, A. D.; Kokoulin, R. P.; Lidvansky, A. S.; Meroshnichenko, L. I.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Panov, A. D.; Wolfendale, A. W.

2013-02-01

The 23rd European Cosmic Ray Symposium (ECRS) took place in Moscow at the Lomonosov Moscow State University (3-7 July 2012), and was excellently organized by the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, with the help of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Council on the Complex Problem of Cosmic Rays of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The first symposia were held in 1968 in Lodz, Poland (high energy, extensive air showers and astrophysical aspects) and in Bern (solar and heliospheric phenomena) and the two 'strands' joined together in 1976 with the meeting in Leeds. Since then the symposia, which have been very successful, have covered all the major topics with some emphasis on European collaborations and on meeting the demands of young scientists. Initially, a driving force was the need to overcome the divisions caused by the 'Cold War' but the symposia continued even when that threat ceased and they have shown no sign of having outlived their usefulness. 2012 has been an important year in the history of cosmic ray studies, in that it marked the centenary of the discovery of enigmatic particles in the perilous balloon ascents of Victor Hess. A number of conferences have taken place in Western Europe during the year, but this one took place in Moscow as a tribute to the successful efforts of many former USSR and other Eastern European scientists in discovering the secrets of the subject, often under very difficult conditions. The symposium covers a wide range of scientific issues divided into the following topics: PCR-IPrimary cosmic rays I (E 1015 eV) MNCosmic ray muons and neutrinos GAGeV and TeV gamma astronomy SHEnergetic particles in the heliosphere (solar and anomalous CRs and GCR modulation) GEOCosmic rays and geophysics (energetic particles in the atmosphere and magnetosphere of the Earth) On a personal note, as I step down as co-founder and chairman of the International Advisory Committee, I should like to

High-energy cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaisser, Thomas K. [Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)]. E-mail: gaisser@bartol.udel.edu; Stanev, Todor [Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)

2006-10-17

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 10{sup 15} eV and the ankle above 10{sup 18} eV. An important question is whether the highest-energy particles are of extra-galactic origin and, if so, at what energy the transition occurs. A theme common to all energy ranges is use of nuclear abundances as a tool for understanding the origin of the cosmic radiation.

Characterising CCDs with cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher-Levine, M.; Nomerotski, A.

2015-01-01

The properties of cosmic ray muons make them a useful probe for measuring the properties of thick, fully depleted CCD sensors. The known energy deposition per unit length allows measurement of the gain of the sensor's amplifiers, whilst the straightness of the tracks allows for a crude assessment of the static lateral electric fields at the sensor's edges. The small volume in which the muons deposit their energy allows measurement of the contribution to the PSF from the diffusion of charge as it drifts across the sensor. In this work we present a validation of the cosmic ray gain measurement technique by comparing with radioisotope gain measurments, and calculate the charge diffusion coefficient for prototype LSST sensors

Isotopic composition of cosmic ray nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enge, W.

1976-01-01

A review will be given on the role of cosmic ray isotopes as tracers of the astrophysical nucleo-synthesis. The products of every nuclear burning chain are first of all isotopes and not elements. Thus, it is the study of the isotopes rather than that of the elements that responds to the questions on these nucleo-synthetic reactions. The problems concerning the solar system isotopic abundances and the cosmic ray isotopic abundances as well as a comparison between both will be presented. Furthermore the present stage of the experimental techniques and the latest results will be discussed. (orig.) [de

ACORDE a cosmic ray detector for ALICE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, A.; Gamez, E.; Herrera, G.; Lopez, R.; Leon-Monzon, I.; Martinez, M.I.; Pagliarone, C.; Paic, G.; Roman, S.; Tejeda, G.; Vargas, M.A.; Vergara, S.; Villasenor, L.; Zepeda, A.

2007-01-01

ACORDE is one of the ALICE detectors, presently under construction at CERN. It consists of an array of plastic scintillator counters placed on the three upper faces of the ALICE magnet. It will act as a cosmic ray trigger, and, together with other ALICE sub-detectors, will provide precise information on cosmic rays with primary energies around 10 15 -10 17 eV. Here we describe the design of ACORDE along with the present status and integration into ALICE

Capturing the most energetic cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mantsch, P.

1999-01-01

The methods of energy measurement applied to the most energetic cosmic rays are described. The rays are so rare that two gigantic systems of detectors are proposed to detect at least some of them (the Pierre Auger Project ). (Z.J.)

Cosmic ray modulation and merged interaction regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burlaga, L.F.; Goldstein, M.L.; Mcdonald, F.B.

1985-01-01

Beyond several AU, interactions among shocks and streams give rise to merged interaction regions in which the magnetic field is turbulent. The integral intensity of . 75 MeV/Nuc cosmic rays at Voyager is generally observed to decrease when a merged interaction region moves past the spacecraft and to increase during the passage of a rarefaction region. When the separation between interaction regions is relatively large, the cosmic ray intensity tends to increase on a scale of a few months. This was the case at Voyager 1 from July 1, 1983 to May 1, 1984, when the spacecraft moved from 16.7 to 19.6 AU. Changes in cosmic ray intensity were related to the magnetic field strength in a simple way. It is estimated that the diffusion coefficient in merged interaction regions at this distance is similar to 0.6 x 10 to the 22nd power sq cm/s

Modeling supernova remnants: effects of diffusive cosmic-ray acceleration on the evolution and application to observations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kosenko, D.; Blinnikov, S.; Vink, J.

2011-01-01

We present numerical models for supernova remnant evolution, using a new version of the hydrodynamical code SUPREMNA. We added a cosmic-ray diffusion equation to the code scheme, employing a two-fluid approximation. We investigate the dynamics of the simulated supernova remnants with different

Particle acceleration by pulsars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arons, Jonathan.

1980-06-01

The evidence that pulsars accelerate relativistic particles is reviewed, with emphasis on the γ-ray observations. The current state of knowledge of acceleration in strong waves is summarized, with emphasis on the inability of consistent theories to accelerate very high energy particles without converting too much energy into high energy photons. The state of viable models for pair creation by pulsars is summarized, with the conclusion that pulsars very likely lose rotational energy in winds instead of in superluminous strong waves. The relation of the pair creation models to γ-ray observations and to soft X-ray observations of pulsars is outlined, with the conclusion that energetically viable models may exist, but none have yet yielded useful agreement with the extant data. Some paths for overcoming present problems are discussed. The relation of the favored models to cosmic rays is discussed. It is pointed out that the pairs made by the models may have observable consequences for observation of positrons in the local cosmic ray flux and for observations of the 511 keV line from the interstellar medium. Another new point is that asymmetry of plasma supply from at least one of the models may qualitatively explain the gross asymmetry of the X-ray emission from the Crab nebula. It is also argued that acceleration of cosmic ray nuclei by pulsars, while energetically possible, can occur only at the boundary of the bubbles blown by the pulsars, if the cosmic ray composition is to be anything like that of the known source spectrum

Latest AMS Results on elementary particles in cosmic rays

Science.gov (United States)

Kounine, Andrei; AMS Collaboration

2017-01-01

AMS-02 is a particle physics detector collecting data on the International Space Station since May 2011. Precision measurements of all elementary charged cosmic ray particles have been performed by AMS using a data sample of 85 billion cosmic ray events collected during the first five years of operations on the Station. The latest AMS results on the fluxes and flux ratios of the elementary cosmic ray particles are presented. They show unique features that require accurate theoretical interpretation as to their origin, be it from dark matter collisions or new astrophysical sources. On behalf of the AMS Collaboration.

Measurement of cosmic ray flux in the China Jinping underground laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Yucheng; Hao Xiqing; Yue Qian

2013-01-01

The China JinPing underground Laboratory (CJPL) is the deepest underground laboratory running in the world at present. In such a deep underground laboratory, the cosmic ray flux is a very important and necessary parameter for rare-event experiments. A plastic scintillator telescope system has been set up to measure the cosmic ray flux. The performance of the telescope system has been studied using the cosmic rays on the ground laboratory near the CJPL. Based on the underground experimental data taken from November 2010 to December 2011 in the CJPL, which has an effective live time of 171 days, the cosmic ray muon flux in the CJPL is measured to be (2.0±0.4)×10 -10 /(cm 2 ·s). The ultra-low cosmic ray background guarantees an ideal environment for dark matter experiments at the CJPL. (authors)

Interactions of Cosmic Rays around the Universe. Models for UHECR data interpretation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boncioli Denise

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs are expected to be accelerated inastrophysical sources and to travel through extragalactic space before hitting the Earth atmosphere. They interact both with the environment in the source and with the intergalactic photon fields they encounter, causing different processes at various scales depending on the photon energy in the nucleus rest frame. UHECR interactions are sensitive to uncertainties in the extragalactic background spectrum and in the photo-disintegration models.

Elemental composition of cosmic ray

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanagida, Shohei

1987-01-01

The report first summarizes some data that have been obtained so far from observation of isotopes and elements in cosmic rays in the low energy region. Then, objectives of studies planned to be carried out with Astromag are outlined and the number of incident particles expected to be measured by baloon observation is estimated. Heavy elements with atomic numbers of greater than 30 are considered to be formed through neutron absorption reactions by the s- or r-process. Observations show that products of the r-process is abundant in cosmic ray sources. The escape length depends on energy. In relation to this, it has been reported that the ratios Ar-Fe and Ca-Fe increase above 200 GeV-n while such a tendency is not observed for K, Sc, Ti or V. Thus, no satisfactory models are available at present which can fully explain the changes in the escape length. The ratio 3 He- 4 He in the range of 5 - 10 GeV-n is inconsistent with the general theory that interprets the escape length of heavy elements. Some models, including the supermetallicity model and Wolf Rayet theory, have been proposed to explain unusual ratios of isotopes in cosmic rays, but more measurements are required to verify them. It is expected that Astromag can serve to make observations that can clarify these points. (Nogami, K.)

11. European cosmic ray symposium held at Balatonfuered, Hungary, August 21-27, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-08-01

The biannual Symposium includes all aspects of cosmic ray research. The scientific programme was organized under three main headings: Cosmic rays in the heliosphere, Cosmic rays in the interstellar and extragalactic space, Properties of high-energy interactions as studied by cosmic rays. Selected short communications out of 114 contributed papers were indexed separately for the INIS database. (R.P.)

Alteration of Organic Compounds in Small Bodies and Cosmic Dusts by Cosmic Rays and Solar Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Kensei; Kaneko, Takeo; Mita, Hajime; Obayashi, Yumiko; Takahashi, Jun-ichi; Sarker, Palash K.; Kawamoto, Yukinori; Okabe, Takuto; Eto, Midori; Kanda, Kazuhiro

2012-07-01

A wide variety of complex organic compounds have been detected in extraterrestrial bodies like carbonaceous chondrites and comets, and their roles in the generation of terrestrial life are discussed. It was suggested that organics in small bodies were originally formed in ice mantles of interstellar dusts in dense cloud. Irradiation of frozen mixture of possible interstellar molecules including CO (or CH _{3}OH), NH _{3} and H _{2}O with high-energy particles gave complex amino acid precursors with high molecular weights [1]. Such complex organic molecules were taken in planetesimals or comets in the early solar system. In prior to the generation of the terrestrial life, extraterrestrial organics were delivered to the primitive Earth by such small bodies as meteorites, comets and space dusts. These organics would have been altered by cosmic rays and solar radiation (UV, X-rays) before the delivery to the Earth. We examined possible alteration of amino acids, their precursors and nucleic acid bases in interplanetary space by irradiation with high energy photons and heavy ions. A mixture of CO, NH _{3} and H _{2}O was irradiated with high-energy protons from a van de Graaff accelerator (TIT, Japan). The resulting products (hereafter referred to as CAW) are complex precursors of amino acids. CAW, amino acids (dl-Isovaline, glycine), hydantoins (amino acid precursors) and nucleic acid bases were irradiated with continuous emission (soft X-rays to IR; hereafter referred to as soft X-rays irradiation) from BL-6 of NewSUBARU synchrotron radiation facility (Univ. Hyogo). They were also irradiated with heavy ions (eg., 290 MeV/u C ^{6+}) from HIMAC accelerator (NIRS, Japan). After soft X-rays irradiation, water insoluble materials were formed. After irradiation with soft X-rays or heavy ions, amino acid precursors (CAW and hydantoins) gave higher ratio of amino acids were recovered after hydrolysis than free amino acids. Nucleic acid bases showed higher stability than free

Radio reconstruction of the mass of ultra-high cosmic rays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorosti, Qader [Institut fuer Kernphysik (IKP), KIT (Germany)

2015-07-01

Detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays can reveal the processes of the most violent sources in the Universe, which yet has to be determined. Interaction of cosmic rays with the Earth's atmosphere results in cascades of secondary particles, i.e. air showers. Many of such particles are electrons and positrons. The induced electrons and positrons interact with the geomagnetic field and induce radio emissions. Detection of air showers along with the detection of induced radio emissions can furnish a precise measurement of the direction, energy and mass of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The Auger Engineering Radio Array consists of 124 radio stations measuring radio emission from air showers, in order to reconstruct the energy, direction and mass of cosmic rays. In this contribution, we present a method which employs a reduced hyperbolic model to describe the shape of radio wave front. We have investigated that the parameters of the reduced hyperbolic model are sensitive to the mass of cosmic rays. The obtained results are presented in this talk.

ANALYTIC SOLUTION FOR SELF-REGULATED COLLECTIVE ESCAPE OF COSMIC RAYS FROM THEIR ACCELERATION SITES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malkov, M. A.; Diamond, P. H.; Sagdeev, R. Z.; Aharonian, F. A.; Moskalenko, I. V.

2013-01-01

Supernova remnants (SNRs), as the major contributors to the galactic cosmic rays (CRs), are believed to maintain an average CR spectrum by diffusive shock acceleration regardless of the way they release CRs into the interstellar medium (ISM). However, the interaction of the CRs with nearby gas clouds crucially depends on the release mechanism. We call into question two aspects of a popular paradigm of the CR injection into the ISM, according to which they passively and isotropically diffuse in the prescribed magnetic fluctuations as test particles. First, we treat the escaping CR and the Alfvén waves excited by them on an equal footing. Second, we adopt field-aligned CR escape outside the source, where the waves become weak. An exact analytic self-similar solution for a CR ''cloud'' released by a dimmed accelerator strongly deviates from the test-particle result. The normalized CR partial pressure may be approximated as P(p,z,t)=2[|z| 5/3 +z dif 5/3 (p,t)] -3/5 exp[-z 2 /4D ISM (p)t], where p is the momentum of CR particle, and z is directed along the field. The core of the cloud expands as z dif ∝√(D NL (p)t) and decays in time as p∝2z -1 dif (t). The diffusion coefficient D NL is strongly suppressed compared to its background ISM value D ISM : D NL ∼ D ISM exp (– Π) ISM for sufficiently high field-line-integrated CR partial pressure, Π. When Π >> 1, the CRs drive Alfvén waves efficiently enough to build a transport barrier (p≈2/∣z∣— p edestal ) that strongly reduces the leakage. The solution has a spectral break at p = p br , where p br satisfies the equation D NL (p br ) ≅ z 2 /t.

Low cloud properties influenced by cosmic rays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marsh, Nigel; Svensmark, Henrik

2000-01-01

The influence of solar variability on climate is currently uncertain. Recent observations have indicated a possible mechanism via the influence of solar modulated cosmic rays on global cloud cover. Surprisingly the influence of solar variability is strongest in low clouds (less than or equal to3 km......), which points to a microphysical mechanism involving aerosol formation that is enhanced by ionization due to cosmic rays. If confirmed it suggests that the average state of the heliosphere is important for climate on Earth....

1912 – 2012: a century of studying cosmic rays

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2012-01-01

One year ago, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer was docked to the International Space Station. This state-of-the-art tool for studying cosmic rays has revolutionised methods of detecting cosmic radiation, which was discovered barely a century ago.   Victor Francis Hess (in the basket), back from his balloon flight in August 1912. Source: American Physical Society. Exactly one hundred years ago, the Austrian-American physicist Victor Francis Hess discovered cosmic rays. The researcher observed the phenomenon while on board a balloon; he found that at an altitude of 1,000 to 5,000 metres, the wires of his Wulf electrometer (a tool used to measure radiation) showed an increase in electrical charge. Hess had just proven the existence of ionising radiation coming from outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Twenty years or so later, the invention of the Geiger-Müller counter enabled physicists to study the properties of the rays more precisely. One century later, cosmic rays and the ques...

Cosmic Ray Physics with the KASCADE-Grande Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Apel, W. D.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cossavella, F.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; Di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Fuhrmann, D.; Gherghel-Lascu, A.; Gils, H. J.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Haungs, A.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Huege, T.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Klages, H. O.; Link, K.; Łuczak, P.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Milke, J.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Oehlschläger, J.; Ostapchenko, S.; Pierog, T.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Schieler, H.; Schoo, S.; Schröder, F. G.; Sima, O.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Zabierowski, J.

The existence of a knee at a few PeV in the all-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum has been well established by several experiments but its physical origin has eluded researches for a long time. It is believed that keys to disentangle the mystery could be found in the spectrum and the composition of cosmic rays between 1 PeV and 1 EeV. A first detailed look into the elemental chemical abundances of cosmic rays in this energy regime was provided by both the KASCADE and the KASCADE-Grande experiments. Their measurements opened the door to a wealth of new data on the subject, which led to the discovery of new structures in the all-particle energy spectrum and the confirmation of knee-like features in the spectra of individual mass groups, as well as the observation of an unexpected ankle-like structure at around 100 PeV in the flux of the light component of cosmic rays. In this contribution, early findings with the KASCADE-Grande experiment will be reviewed and then a short update on the analyses currently performed with the data of the observatory will be presented.

Heliospheric modulation of cosmic rays: model and observation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerasimova S.K.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the basic model of cosmic ray modulation in the heliosphere, developed in Yu.G. Shafer Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The model has only one free modulation parameter: the ratio of the regular magnetic field to the turbulent one. It may also be applied to the description of cosmic ray intensity variations in a wide energy range from 100 MeV to 100 GeV. Possible mechanisms of generation of the turbulent field are considered. The primary assumption about the electrical neutrality of the heliosphere appears to be wrong, and the zero potential needed to match the model with observations in the solar equatorial plane can be achieved if the frontal point of the heliosphere, which is flowed around by interstellar gas, lies near the plane. We have revealed that the abnormal rise of cosmic ray intensity at the end of solar cycle 23 is related to the residual modulation produced by the subsonic solar wind behind the front of a standing shock wave. The model is used to describe features of cosmic ray intensity variations in several solar activity cycles.

Detectors of Cosmic Rays, Gamma Rays, and Neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altamirano, A.; Navarra, G.

2009-01-01

We summarize the main features, properties and performances of the typical detectors in use in Cosmic Ray Physics. A brief historical and general introduction will focus on the main classes and requirements of such detectors.

EMMA: A new underground cosmic-ray experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enqvist, T; Foehr, V; Joutsenvaara, J; Jaemsen, T; Keraenen, P; Kuusiniemi, P; Laitala, H; Lehtola, M; Mattila, A; Narkilahti, J; Peltoniemi, J; Remes, H; Reponen, M; Raeihae, T; Sarkamo, J; Shen, C; Vaittinen, M; Zhang, Z; Ding, L; Zhu, Q; Roos, M; Dzaparova, I; Karpov, S; Kurenya, A; Petkov, V; Yanin, A; Fynbo, H

2006-01-01

A cosmic-ray experiment of new type is under construction in the Pyhaesalmi mine in the underground laboratory of the University of Oulu, Finland. It aims to study the composition of cosmic rays at and above the knee region (energy above 1 PeV). The experiment, called EMMA, covers about 150 m 2 of detector area, and the setup is capable of measuring the multiplicity and the lateral distribution of underground muons, and the arrival direction of the air shower. The detector is placed at the depth of about 85 metres (corresponding about 240 mwe) which gives a threshold energy of muons of about 45 GeV. The rock overburden filters out all other particles of the air shower except the high-energy muons. These high-energy muons originate at high altitudes close to the first interaction of the primary cosmic ray and they carry more information about the primary than low-energy muons. The full-size detector is supposed to run by the end of 2007

Celestial Messengers Cosmic Rays The Story of a Scientific Adventure

CERN Document Server

Bertolotti, Mario

2013-01-01

The book describes from a historical point of view how cosmic rays were discovered. The book describes the research in cosmic rays. The main focus is on how the knowledge was gained, describing the main experiments and the conclusions drawn. Biographical sketches of main researchers are provided. Cosmic rays have an official date of discovery which is linked to the famous balloon flights of the Austrian physicist Hess in 1912. The year 2012 can therefore be considered the centenary of the discovery.

Celestial messengers. Cosmic rays. The story of a scientific adventure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertolotti, Mario

2013-01-01

The book describes from a historical point of view how cosmic rays were discovered. The book describes the research in cosmic rays. The main focus is on how the knowledge was gained, describing the main experiments and the conclusions drawn. Biographical sketches of main researchers are provided. Cosmic rays have an official date of discovery which is linked to the famous balloon flights of the Austrian physicist Hess in 1912. The year 2012 can therefore be considered the centenary of the discovery.

Direct cosmic ray muons and atmospheric neutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryazhskaya, O.G.; Volkova, L.V.; Zatsepin, G.T.

2005-01-01

A possible contribution of very short living particles (particles with life-time much shorter than that of charmed particles), for example, resonances, into cosmic ray muon and atmospheric neutrino fluxes (direct muons and neutrinos) is estimated. This contribution could become of the same order of magnitude as that from pions and kaons (conventional) already at energies of hundreds TeV and tens TeV for muons and muon neutrinos coming to the sea level in the vertical direction correspondingly. Of course, the estimation has quite a qualitative character and even it is quite arbitrary but it is necessary to keep this contribution in mind when studying EAS, cosmic ray muon component or trying to interpret data of experiments on cosmic neutrino searching at high energies

Dark matter and galactic cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taillet, R.

2010-12-01

Dark matter is one of the major problems encountered by modern cosmology and astrophysics, resisting the efforts of both theoreticians and experimentalists. The problem itself is easy to state: many indirect astrophysical measurements indicate that the mass contained in the Universe seems to be dominated by a new type of matter which has never been directly seen yet, this is why it is called dark matter. This hypothesis of dark matter being made of new particles is of great interest for particle physicists, whose theories provide many candidates: dark matter is one of the major topics of astro-particle physics. This work focuses on searching dark matter in the form of new particles, more precisely to indirect detection, i.e. the search of particles produced by dark matter annihilation rather than dark matter particles themselves. In this framework, I will present the studies I have been doing in the field of cosmic rays physics (particularly cosmic ray sources), in several collaborations. In particular, the study of the antimatter component of cosmic rays can give relevant information about dark matter. The last chapter is dedicated to my teaching activities

An algorithm to resolve γ-rays from charged cosmic rays with DAMPE

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Zun-Lei; Duan, Kai-Kai; Shen, Zhao-Qiang; Lei, Shi-Jun; Dong, Tie-Kuang; Gargano, Fabio; Garrappa, Simone; Guo, Dong-Ya; Jiang, Wei; Li, Xiang; Liang, Yun-Feng; Mazziotta, Mario Nicola; Munoz Salinas, Maria Fernanda; Su, Meng; Vagelli, Valerio; Yuan, Qiang; Yue, Chuan; Zang, Jing-Jing; Zhang, Ya-Peng; Zhang, Yun-Long; Zimmer, Stephan

2018-03-01

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), also known as Wukong in China, which was launched on 2015 December 17, is a new high energy cosmic ray and γ-ray satellite-borne observatory. One of the main scientific goals of DAMPE is to observe GeV-TeV high energy γ-rays with accurate energy, angular and time resolution, to indirectly search for dark matter particles and for the study of high energy astrophysics. Due to the comparatively higher fluxes of charged cosmic rays with respect to γ-rays, it is challenging to identify γ-rays with sufficiently high efficiency, minimizing the amount of charged cosmic ray contamination. In this work we present a method to identify γ-rays in DAMPE data based on Monte Carlo simulations, using the powerful electromagnetic/hadronic shower discrimination provided by the calorimeter and the veto detection of charged particles provided by the plastic scintillation detector. Monte Carlo simulations show that after this selection the number of electrons and protons that contaminate the selected γ-ray events at ∼ 10GeV amounts to less than 1% of the selected sample. Finally, we use flight data to verify the effectiveness of the method by highlighting known γ-ray sources in the sky and by reconstructing preliminary light curves of the Geminga pulsar.

The Fermi Large Area Telescope as a cosmic-ray detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sgrò, Carmelo

2013-01-01

The Fermi Large Area Telescope is an international observatory conceived to study high energy gamma-rays from the universe. It is designed to identify and reconstruct electromagnetic showers and it can collect cosmic-ray electrons and positrons thanks to its triggering and filtering capabilities. The Fermi LAT collaboration has published several results on charged cosmic rays. We measured the inclusive spectrum of electrons and positrons from 7 GeV to 1 TeV and searched for anisotropies in the electron incoming direction. We have recently published a measurement of cosmic-ray positron-only and electron-only spectra for energies between 20 GeV and 200 GeV exploiting the Earth's magnetic field as a charge separator. In this work we describe the techniques and capabilities of the LAT as a cosmic-ray detector and review the recent results and their interpretations. Prospects for future studies and observations will also be discussed

Cosmic ray spectrum, composition, and anisotropy measured with IceCube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamburro, Alessio

2014-01-01

Analysis of cosmic ray surface data collected with the IceTop array of Cherenkov detectors at the South Pole provides an accurate measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum and its features in the “knee” region up to energies of about 1 EeV. IceTop is part of the IceCube Observatory that includes a deep-ice cubic kilometer detector that registers signals of penetrating muons and other particles. Surface and in-ice signals detected in coincidence provide clear insights into the nuclear composition of cosmic rays. IceCube already measured an increase of the average primary mass as a function of energy. We present preliminary results on both IceTop-only and coincident events analysis. Furthermore, we review the recent measurement of the cosmic ray anisotropy with IceCube

Cosmic ray spectrum, composition, and anisotropy measured with IceCube

Science.gov (United States)

Tamburro, Alessio

2014-04-01

Analysis of cosmic ray surface data collected with the IceTop array of Cherenkov detectors at the South Pole provides an accurate measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum and its features in the "knee" region up to energies of about 1 EeV. IceTop is part of the IceCube Observatory that includes a deep-ice cubic kilometer detector that registers signals of penetrating muons and other particles. Surface and in-ice signals detected in coincidence provide clear insights into the nuclear composition of cosmic rays. IceCube already measured an increase of the average primary mass as a function of energy. We present preliminary results on both IceTop-only and coincident events analysis. Furthermore, we review the recent measurement of the cosmic ray anisotropy with IceCube.

A study of the cosmic-ray neutron field near interfaces

CERN Document Server

Sheu, R J; Jiang, S H

2002-01-01

This study investigated the characteristics of the cosmic-ray neutron field near air/ground and air/water interfaces with an emphasis on the angular distribution. Two sets of high-efficiency neutron detecting systems were used. The first one, called the Bonner Cylinders, was used for measurements of the energy information. The other one, referred to as the eight-channel neutron detector (8CND), was used to characterize the angular information of the neutron field. The measured results were used to normalize and confirm one-dimensional transport calculations for cosmic-ray neutrons below 20 MeV in the air/ground and air/water media. Annual sea level cosmic-ray neutron doses were then determined based on the obtained characteristics of low-energy cosmic-ray neutrons near interfaces and estimated contribution from high-energy neutrons.