Numerous authors have suggested that the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory and other cosmic-ray telescopes may be accelerated in the nuclei, jets or lobes of radio galaxies. Here I focus on stochastic acceleration in the lobes. I show that the requirement that they accelerate protons to the highest observed energies places constraints on the observable properties of radio lobes that are satisfied by a relatively small number of objects within the Greisen-Zat'sepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff; if UHECR are protons and are accelerated within radio lobes, their sources are probably already known and catalogued radio galaxies. I show that lobe acceleration also implies a (charge-dependent) upper energy limit on the UHECR that can be produced in this way; if lobes are the dominant accelerators in the local universe and if UHECR are predominantly protons, we are unlikely to see cosmic rays much higher in energy than those we have already observed. I comment on the viability of the stochastic acceleration mechanism and the likely composition of cosmic rays accelerated in this way, based on our current understanding of the contents of the large-scale lobes of radio galaxies, and finally discuss the implications of stochastic lobe acceleration for the future of cosmic ray astronomy.
This review summarizes recent developments in the understanding of high-energy cosmic rays. It focuses on galactic and presumably extragalactic particles in the energy range from the knee (10^15 eV) up to the highest energies observed (>10^20 eV). Emphasis is put on observational results, their interpretation, and the global picture of cosmic rays that has emerged during the last decade.
The angular, spectral and temporal features of the highest energy protons and accompanying them secondary neutrinos and synchrotron gamma-rays propagating through the intergalactic magnetic and radiation fields are studied using the analytical solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation obtained in the limit of the small-angle and continuous-energy-loss approximation.
This paper discusses the relation between the study of the fluxes of cosmic rays, gamma rays and neutrinos, and the connection of these observations with the newly born field of gravitational wave astronomy.
The $γ$-ray emission observed in several classes of Galactic and extragalactic astrophysical sources appears to be linked to accreting black holes and rotational powered neutron stars. These systems are prodigious cosmic accelerators, and are also potential sources of the UHE cosmic rays detected by several experiments and VHE neutrinos. We review a recent progress in our understanding of these objects, and demonstrate how recent and future observations can be employed to probe the conditions in the sources.
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 flux of ultrahigh-energy cosmic-…
This white paper describes the contributions of the VERITAS gamma-ray telescope array to the CF6-A subgroup of the 'Cosmic Frontier' working group, part of the Snowmass Community Summer Study 2013.
We study basic characteristics of distributions of the depths of shower maximum in air showers caused by cosmic rays with the highest energies. The consistency between their average values and widths, and their energy dependences are discussed within a simple phenomenological model of shower development independently of assumptions about detailed features of high--energy interactions. It is shown that reliable information on primary species can be derived within a partition method. We present examples demonstrating implications for the changes in mass composition of primary cosmic rays.
We will review the main channels of gamma ray emission due to the acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays, discussing the cases of both galactic and extra-galactic cosmic rays and their connection with gamma rays observations.
The PeV gamma ray background produced in the interactions of ultra high energy cosmic rays with the ambient matter and radiations during their propagation in the Milky Way has been calculated in this paper. If the primary ultra high energy cosmic rays are produced from Galactic point sources then those point sources are also emitting PeV gamma rays. We discuss that the detection of galactocentric PeV gamma rays in the future would be a signature of the presence of EeV cosmic accelerators in the Milky Way.
This paper deals with the cosmic-ray penetration into molecular clouds and with the related gamma--ray emission. High energy cosmic rays interact with the dense gas and produce neutral pions which in turn decay into two gamma rays. This makes molecular clouds potential sources of gamma rays, especially if they are located in the vicinity of a powerful accelerator that injects cosmic rays in the interstellar medium. The amplitude and duration in time of the cosmic--ray overdensity around a given source depend on how quickly cosmic rays diffuse in the turbulent galactic magnetic field. For these…
The observation of neutrinos from cosmic accelerators will be revolutionary. High energy neutrinos are closely connected to ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and their sources. Cosmic ray sources are likely to produce neutrinos and the propagation of ultrahigh cosmic rays from distant sources can generate PeV to ZeV neutrinos. We briefly review recent progress on the observations of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and their implications for the future detections of high energy neutrinos.
Using recent measurements of the spectrum and chemical composition of the highest energy cosmic rays, we consider the sources of these particles. We find that the data strongly prefers models in which the sources of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays inject predominantly intermediate mass nuclei, with comparatively few protons or heavy nuclei, such as iron or silicon. If the number density of sources per comoving volume does not evolve with redshift, the injected spectrum must be very hard ($α\simeq 1$) in order to fit the spectrum observed at Earth. Such a hard spectral index would be surprisi…
After a hundred years of searching for the origin of cosmic rays, where and how they are made has finally become clear. Here we briefly trace that odyssey through both astronomical observations and cosmic ray measurements.
In this paper we review the status of the search for high-energy neutrinos from outside the solar system and discuss the implications for the origin and propagation of cosmic rays. Connections between neutrinos and gamma-rays are also discussed.
The properties of galactic cosmic rays are investigated with the KASCADE-Grande experiment in the energy range between $10^{14}$ and $10^{18}$ eV. Recent results are discussed. They concern mainly the all-particle energy spectrum and the elemental composition of cosmic rays.
We examine the effects of streaming cosmic rays upstream of a strong, parallel collisionless shock. We include explicitly the inertia of the cosmic rays in our analysis, which was neglected in previous work. For parameters relevant to the acceleration of cosmic rays at a supernova blast wave, we find no MHD fluid instability that would lead to the amplification of the magnetic field above that given by the compression at the shock. We show how to recover, from our own analysis, the cosmic-ray-driven MHD fluid instability found by previous authors. We conclude that including the inertia and dyn…
The study of the gamma-ray radiation produced by cosmic rays that escape their accelerators is of paramount importance for (at least) two reasons: first, the detection of those gamma-ray photons can serve to identify the sources of cosmic rays and, second, the characteristics of that radiation give us constraints on the way in which cosmic rays propagate in the interstellar medium. This paper reviews the present status of the field.
Auger Collaboration has reported a large-scale anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above 8 EeV. The dipole direction, at 125$^\circ$ from the Galactic center, is taken as an indication of an extragalactic origin of these cosmic rays. We show, both theoretically and by direct numerical simulations, that this is not necessarily true. Intermediate mass nuclei originating in the Galaxy and diffusing in the Galactic magnetic field can have a dipole anisotropy pointing away from the Galactic center. Our theory predicts a quadrupole anisotropy of the same order of magnitude as the dip…
We demonstrate that cosmic rays form filamentary structures in the precursors of supernova remnant shocks due to their self-generated magnetic fields. The cosmic-ray filamentation results in the growth of a long wavelength instability, and naturally couples the rapid non-linear amplification on small scales to larger length scales. Hybrid magnetohydrodynamics--particle simulations are performed to confirm the effect. The resulting large scale magnetic field may facilitate the scattering of high energy cosmic rays as required to accelerate protons beyond the knee in the cosmic-ray spectrum at s…
Observations of molecular clouds in the gamma ray domain provide us with a tool to study the distribution of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. This is because cosmic rays can penetrate molecular clouds, undergo hadronic interactions in the dense gas, and produce neutral pions that in turn decay into gamma rays. The detection of this radiation allows us to estimate the spectrum and intensity of cosmic rays at the cloud's position. Remarkably, this fact can be used to constrain the cosmic ray diffusion coefficient at specific locations in the Galaxy.
The arrival directions of Galactic cosmic rays exhibit anisotropies up to the level of one per-mille over various angular scales. Recent observations of TeV-PeV cosmic rays show that the dipole anisotropy has a strong energy dependence with a phase-flip around 100 TeV. We argue that this behavior can be well understood by the combination of various effects: the anisotropic diffusion of cosmic rays, the presence of nearby sources, the Compton-Getting effect from our relative motion and the reconstruction bias of ground-based observatories.
The upper limit on the flux of ultra high energy neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that was reported recently by the IceCube collaboration contradicts predictions based on the Fireball model of GRBs, but does not exclude GRBs as a main source of ultra-high energy cosmic rays.
We briefly review sources of cosmic rays, their composition and spectra as well as their propagation in the galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields, both regular and fluctuating. A special attention is paid to the recent results of the X-ray and gamma-ray observations that shed light on the origin of the galactic cosmic rays and the challenging results of Pierre Auger Observatory on the ultra high energy cosmic rays. The perspectives of both high energy astrophysics and cosmic-ray astronomy to identify the sources of ultra high energy cosmic rays, the mechanisms of particle acceleration, to…
The maximum cosmic ray energy achievable by acceleration by a relativistic blast wave is derived. It is shown that forward shocks from long GRB in the interstellar medium are powerful enough to produce the Galactic cosmic-ray component up to the ankle at $4\times 10^{18}$eV, as per an earlier suggestion (Levinson and Eichler, 1993). It is further argued that, were extragalactic long GRB responsible for the component {\it above} the ankle as well, the contribution from an occasional Galactic GRB within the solar circle would yield more than the observational limits on the outward flux from the …
We will discuss the main relevant aspects of the physics of ultra high energy cosmic rays. After a short recap of the experimental evidences, we will review theoretical models aiming at describing the sources of these extremely energetic particles opening a window on the highest energies universe. We will discuss the production of secondary particles and the possible tests of new physics that ultra high energy cosmic rays could provide.
It has been suggested that hypernova remnants, with a substantial amount of energy in semi-relativistic ejecta, can accelerate intermediate mass or heavy nuclei to ultra-high energies and provide sufficient amount of energy in cosmic rays to account for the observed flux. We here calculate the expected energy spectrum and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays from such semi-relativistic hypernovae. With a chemical composition equal to that of the hypernova ejecta and a flat or hard spectrum for cosmic rays at the sources, the spectrum and composition of the propagated cosmic ra…
Progress reported during the XV International Symposium on Very High-Energy Cosmic-Ray Interactions is summarized. Emphasize is given to experimental work. The actual status, recent results, and their implications on the present understanding of the origin of high-energy cosmic-rays and their interactions are discussed.
The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory, or HAWC, is carrying out an unbiased survey of cosmic rays and gamma rays from the Northern Hemisphere between 100 GeV and 100 TeV. HAWC is currently the only high-uptime wide-field TeV observatory in operation, and has a robust program to search for flares and other transient sources of gamma rays. The detector is also well suited to observe spatially extended regions of gamma-ray emission and cosmic-ray anisotropy. HAWC recently concluded its first year of data taking with the complete detector. The results include not only observations of many …
It is shown that the relativistic jets associated with the growth and past activity of the supermassive black hole in the Andromeda galaxy could be the main source of cosmic rays with energies above $10^{15}$ eV. Most of the cosmic ray energy is related to a bow shock of the jet that produces multi-PeV cosmic rays with light composition. The highest energy cosmic rays with heavy composition are produced in the jet itself. The spectra of energetic particles produced in Andromeda galaxy and propagated to the Earth are calculated and compared with observations.
An analysis of arrival directions of extensive air showers generated by cosmic rays in the PeV energy range and registered with the EAS MSU and EAS-1000 Prototype arrays reveals a considerable number of regions of excessive flux of cosmic rays. We present results of comparative analysis of regions found in the two data sets, estimate probabilities of their appearance, and discuss correlation of their locations with coordinates of possible astrophysical sources of PeV cosmic rays.
High-energy cosmic rays, impinging on the atmosphere of the Earth initiate cascades of secondary particles, the extensive air showers. The electrons and positrons in the air shower emit electromagnetic radiation. This emission is detected with the LOFAR radio telescope in the frequency range from 10 to 240 MHz. The data are used to determine the properties of the incoming cosmic rays. The radio technique is now routinely used to measure the arrival direction, the energy, and the particle type (atomic mass) of cosmic rays in the energy range from $10^{17}$ to $10^{18}$ eV. This energy region is…
Results are presented that were obtained by analysing the arrival directions of E0 > 8x10**18 eV primary cosmic rays recorded at the Yakutsk array over the period between 1974 and 2003 and at the SUGAR array (Australia). The greatest primary cosmic ray flux is shown to arrive from the region of visible intersection of the planes of the Galaxy and the Supergalaxy (local supercluster of galaxies) at a galactic longitude of about 137 degres. On a global scale, the lowest temperature of the cosmic microwave background is typical of this region.
After the discovery of Fermi Bubbles and the excess of gamma-ray emission, the Galactic Centre has received increasing attention with the aim to understand its role in the origin and acceleration of primary cosmic rays (CRs). Based on a diffusion/re-acceleration model, we use the GALPROP software to solve the diffusion equation for the cosmic rays and compare the results with the CRs spectrum, motivated by relationship between several energetic sources at the Galactic Centre and the generated diffuse GeV-TeV gamma-rays. We calculate the cosmic ray distribution, gamma-ray flux from Galactic Cen…
In this paper we note that the spectral intensities of antiprotons observed in Galactic cosmic rays in the energy range ~ 1-100 GeV by BESS, PAMELA and AMS instruments display nearly the same spectral shape as that generated by primary cosmic rays through their interaction with matter in the interstellar medium, without any significant modifications. More importantly, a constant residence time of ~ 2.5 +/-0.7 million years in the Galactic volume, independent of the energy of cosmic rays, matches the observed intensities. A small additional component of secondary antiprotons in the energy below…
The arguments surrounding the Galactic component of the cosmic rays, the energy budget, questions of composition, spectral features, anisotropy, sources etc, will be critically examined. We are moving into a new phase in the study of the Galactic cosmic rays where it is becoming clear that precision measurements are revealing new, and in some cases unexpected, features which are forcing us to develop more sophisticated models for their production and propagation. The fundamental concepts however appear to be quite solid and have changed remarkably little in the more than fifty years since Ginz…
In over two years of operation Fermi-LAT has revolutionized our knowledge of the gamma-ray sky. Interstellar gamma rays are part of this new era and allow unprecedented tests for models of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. The extension to lower energies with INTEGRAL/SPI data is also evolving. The global multiwavelength luminosity of the Milky Way has been derived, with implications for the Galactic energy balance and the radio-FIR correlation.
In this paper, we used the Monte Carlo code CRPropa version 2.0 to simulate the propagation of UHE cosmic rays. In the simulation, uniform cosmic ray sources with spectral indices of α = 1.4, α = 2 and Emax = 1021 eV for pure iron composition at the source position are assumed. We obtained the logarithmic average mass of cosmic rays as a function of energy and compared it with the experimental values in the ankle, and we demonstrated how the mass composition changes before and after the ankle.
We study general implications of the IceCube observations in the energy range from $10^{6}$ GeV to $10^{10}$ GeV for the origin of extragalactic ultrahigh energy cosmic rays assuming that high energy neutrinos are generated by the photomeson production of protons in the extragalactic universe. The PeV-energy neutrino flux observed by IceCube gives strong bounds on the photomeson-production optical depth of protons in their sources and the intensity of the proton component of extragalactic cosmic rays. The neutrino flux implies that extragalactic cosmic-ray sources should have the optical depth…
While there is some level of consensus on a Galactic origin of cosmic rays up to the knee ($E_{k}\sim 3\times 10^{15}$ eV) and on an extragalactic origin of cosmic rays with energy above $\sim 10^{19}$ eV, the debate on the genesis of cosmic rays in the intermediate energy region has received much less attention, mainly because of the ambiguity intrinsic in defining such a region. The energy range between $10^{17}$ eV and $\sim 10^{19}$ eV is likely to be the place where the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays takes place. Hence the origin of these particles, though being of …
The measurement of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is an unique way to study article interactions at energies which are well above the capability of current accelerators. Significant progress in this field has occurred during last years, particularly due to the measurements made at the Pierre Auger Observatory. The important results which were achieved during last years are described here. Also future plans for the study of cosmic rays are presented.
Recent high energy gamma-ray observations of both single supernova remnants and superbubbles, together with observations of supernovae, star formation regions, and local cosmic ray composition, now provide an integrated framework tying together the sources, injection, acceleration and propagation of the cosmic rays, so that it is possible to determine their relative contributions to cosmic ray acceleration for all but the very highest energies.
The cores of Arp 220, the closest ultra-luminous infrared starburst galaxy, provide an opportunity to study interactions of cosmic rays under extreme conditions. In this paper, we model the populations of cosmic rays produced by supernovae in the central molecular zones of both starburst nuclei. We find that ~65 - 100% of cosmic rays are absorbed in these regions due to their huge molecular gas contents, and thus, the nuclei of Arp 220 nearly complete proton calorimeters. As the cosmic ray protons collide with the interstellar medium, they produce secondary electrons that are also contained wi…
Galaxies at high redshifts with strong star formation are sources of high-energy cosmic rays. These cosmic rays interact with the baryon and radiation fields of the galactic environment via photo-pair, photo-pion and proton-proton processes to produce charged and neutral pions, neutrons and protons. The cosmic rays thereby deposit energy into the interstellar medium (ISM) as they propagate. We show how energy transport and deposition by ultra high-energy cosmic rays is regulated by the evolution of the galaxy, in particular by the development of the galactic magnetic field. We show how the par…
The effect of cosmic rays on the Parker-Jeans instability in magnetized self-gravitating gaseous disks is studied by three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with cosmic rays taken as a massless fluid with notable pressure. Cosmic ray diffusion along the magnetic field is taken into account in the simulation. The initial configuration of the disk is a magnetized cold gas slab sandwiched between hot corona (on top and bottom). We show that cosmic rays play an important role in the formation of filaments or clumps in some parameter regimes. In a certain range of the thickness of t…
The galactic cosmic rays are generally believed to be originated in supernova remnants (SNRs), produced in diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) process in supernova blast waves driven by expanding SNRs. One of the key unsettled issue in SNR origin of cosmic ray model is the maximum attainable energy by a cosmic ray particle in the supernova shock. Recently it has been suggested that an amplification of effective magnetic field strength at the shock may take place in young SNRs due to growth of magnetic waves induced by accelerated cosmic rays and as a result the maximum energy achieved by cosmic…
We present arguments aiming to reconcile the apparently contradictory results concerning the chemical composition of cosmic rays of highest energy, coming recently from Auger and HiRes collaborations. In particular, we argue that the energy dependence of the mean value and root mean square fluctuation of shower maxima distributions observed by the Auger experiment are not necessarily caused by the change of nuclear composition of primary cosmic rays.
We present a linear perturbation analysis of the magnetorotational instability in the presence of the cosmic rays. Dynamical effects of the cosmic rays are considered by a fluid description and the diffusion of cosmic rays is only along the magnetic field lines. We show an enhancement in the growth rate of the unstable mode because of the existence of cosmic rays. But as the diffusion of cosmic rays increases, we see that the growth rate decreases. Thus, cosmic rays have a destabilizing role in the magnetorotational instability of the accretion discs.
Cosmic rays and related measurements: IceTop overview; IceTop calibration; Cosmic ray composition; Air shower measurements; Studies of cosmic ray muons; Studies of PeV gamma rays; Cosmic ray anisotropy; Forbush decrease; Submitted papers to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Beijing 2011.
We present arguments aiming at reconciling apparently contradictory results concerning the chemical composition of cosmic rays of highest energy, coming recently from the Auger and HiRes collaborations. In particular, we argue that the energy dependence of the mean value and root mean square fluctuation of shower maxima distributions observed by the Auger experiment are not necessarily caused by the change of nuclear composition of primary cosmic rays. They could also be caused by the change of distribution of the first interaction point in the cascade. A new observable, in which this influenc…
After a century of observations, we still do not know the origin of cosmic rays. I will review the current state of cosmic ray observations at the highest energies, and their implications for proposed acceleration models and secondary astroparticle fluxes. Possible sources have narrowed down with the confirmation of a GZK-like spectral feature. The anisotropy observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory may signal the dawn of particle astronomy raising hopes for high energy neutrino observations. However, composition related measurements point to a different interpretation. A clear resolution of t…
The greater part of this paper is concerned with a historical discussion of the development of the search for the origins of the highest-energy cosmic-rays together with a few remarks about future prospects. Additionally, in section 6, the situation with regard to the mass composition and energy spectrum at the highest energies is discussed. It is shown that the change of the depth of shower maximum with energy above 1 EeV, measured using the Telescope Array, is in striking agreement with similar results from the Auger Observatory. This implies that either the mean mass of cosmic rays is becom…
Recent direct measurements of Galactic cosmic ray spectra by balloon/space-borne detectors reveal spectral hardenings of all major nucleus species at rigidities of a few hundred GV. The all-sky diffuse gamma-ray emissions measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope also show spatial variations of the intensities and spectral indices of cosmic rays. These new observations challenge the traditional simple acceleration and/or propagation scenario of Galactic cosmic rays. In this work we propose a spatially-dependent diffusion scenario to explain all these phenomena. The diffusion coefficient is as…
We report a measurement of the flux of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision and statistics using data from the Pierre Auger Observatory. Based on fluorescence observations in coincidence with at least one station of the surface detector we derive a spectrum for energies above 1 EeV. We also report on the energy spectra obtained with the surface detector array. The spectral features are presented in detail and the impact of systematic uncertainties on these features are addressed.
It is known from some time that to explain some apparently {\it exotic events} observed in cosmic ray experiments, a deeply penetrating component in cosmic rays is needed, which, in turn, leads frequently to the nonexponential distributions of some observables. We argue that such unexpected behavior of some cosmic rays data can be most naturally explained by attributing them to the possible fluctuations of cross sections.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has been operational for over 30 years and throughout that time it has been bombarded by high energy charged particles colloquially referred to as cosmic rays. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of more than 1.2 billion cosmic rays observed with HST using a custom written python package, \texttt{HSTcosmicrays}, that is available to the astronomical community. We analyzed $75,908$ dark calibration files taken as part of routine calibration programs for five different CCD imagers with operational coverage of Solar Cycle 23 and 24. We observe the expe…
We study the change in cosmic-ray pressure, the change in cosmic-ray density, and the level of cosmic-ray induced heating via Alfven-wave damping when cosmic rays move from a hot ionized plasma to a cool cloud embedded in that plasma. The general analysis method outlined here can apply to diffuse clouds in either the ionized interstellar medium or in galactic winds. We introduce a general-purpose model of cosmic-ray diffusion building upon the hydrodynamic approximation for cosmic rays (from McKenzie & Voelk and Breitschwerdt and collaborators). Our improved method self-consistently derives th…
We show that the observed fluxes, spectra and sky distributions of the high energy diffuse backgrounds of astronomical neutrinos, gamma rays and cosmic ray positrons satisfy simple relations expected from their common production in hadronic collisions of high energy cosmic rays (CRs) with diffuse matter. This provides compelling evidence that the high energy neutrino, gamma ray, and positron backgrounds have a common origin - hadronic meson production by cosmic rays in our Galaxy and in external galaxies rather than through the decay/annihilation of dark matter particles.
A shock-accelerated particle flux \propto p^-s, where p is the particle momentum, follows from simple theoretical considerations of cosmic-ray acceleration at nonrelativistic shocks followed by rigidity-dependent escape into the Galactic halo. A flux of shock-accelerated cosmic-ray protons with s ~ 2.8 provides an adequate fit to the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray emission spectra of high-latitude and molecular cloud gas when uncertainties in nuclear production models are considered. A break in the spectrum of cosmic-ray protons claimed by Neronov, Semikoz, & Taylor (PRL, 108, 051105, 2012) when fitting …
We will review the main physical aspects of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays. We will discuss in particular their propagation through astrophysical backgrounds, focusing on the latest experimental observations of HiRes, Telescope Array and Auger. We will also review the issue of the transition between galactic and extra-galactic cosmic rays.
