Supernova remnants (SNRs) have been regarded as major acceleration sites of Galactic cosmic rays. Recent X-ray studies revealed neutral Fe K$α$ line emission from dense gas in the vicinity of some SNRs, which can be best interpreted as K-shell ionization of Fe atoms in the gas by sub-relativistic particles accelerated in the SNRs. In this Letter, we propose a novel method of constraining the composition of particles accelerated in SNRs, which is currently unknown. When energetic heavy ions collide with target atoms, their strong Coulomb field can easily cause simultaneous ejection of multiple inner-shell electrons of the target. This results in shifts in characteristic X-ray line energies, forming distinctive spectral structures. Detection of such structures in the neutral Fe K$α$ line strongly supports the particle ionization scenario, and furthermore provides direct evidence of heavy ions in the accelerated particles. We construct a model for the Fe K$α$ line structures by various projectile ions utilizing atomic-collision data.
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.
Low-energy (~MeV) cosmic rays (CRs) ionize molecular clouds and create the neutral iron line (Fe I Kα) at 6.4 keV. On the other hand, high-energy (>~ GeV) CRs interact with the dense cloud gas and produce gamma rays. Based on a one-dimensional model, we study the spatial correlation among ionization rates of gas, 6.4 keV line fluxes, and gamma-ray emissions from a molecular cloud illuminated by CRs accelerated at an adjacent supernova remnant. We find that the spatial distributions of these three observables depend on how CRs intrude the cloud and on the internal structure of the cloud. If the…
We study the combined impact of magnetic mirroring and focusing on the ionization by cosmic rays (CRs) in dense molecular clouds and circumstellar disks. We show that for effective column densities of up to $\sim10^{25}$ cm$^{-2}$ (where ionization is the main mechanism of energy losses by CRs) the two effects practically cancel each other out, provided the magnetic field strength has a single peak along field lines. In this case the ionization rate at a given location is controlled solely by attenuation of interstellar CRs due to energy losses. The situation is very different in the presence …
Diffuse interstellar clouds show large abundances of H_3^+ which can be maintained only 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 …
Context: Since a few years, signatures of supernova remnants associated with molecular clouds have been detected in gamma rays. Whether these gamma rays are generated by cosmic ray electrons or by cosmic ray protons is usually not known. The detection of hadronic ionization signatures in spatial coincidence with gamma ray signatures can help to unambiguously identify supernova remnants as sources of cosmic ray protons. Methods: In order to calculate hadronic signatures from cosmic ray-induced ionization for an examination of the origin of the observed gamma rays, the transport equation for cos…
Recent high-sensitivity observation of the nearby radio galaxy M87 have provided important insights into the central engine that drives the large-scale outflows seen in radio, optical and X-rays. This review summarizes the observational status achieved in the high energy (HE;<100 GeV) and very high energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray domains, and discusses the theoretical progress in understanding the physical origin of this emission and its relation to the activity of the central black hole.
The possibility of estimating the mass composition of primary cosmic rays above the knee of its energy spectrum through the study of high energy gamma rays, muons and neutrinos produced in the interactions of cosmic rays with the solar ambient matter and radiation has been explored. It is found that the theoretical fluxes of TeV gamma rays, muons and neutrinos from a region around $15^{o}$ of the Sun are sensitive to mass composition of cosmic rays in the PeV energy range. The experimental prospects for detection of such TeV gamma rays/neutrinos by future experiments are discussed.
Cosmic rays in the inner solar system are subject to deflection by both the geomagnetic and interplanetary magnetic fields, and simultaneously interact with the Sun's photosphere resulting in the production of gamma rays. This phenomenon can be studied by observing the deficit ("shadow") in the cosmic ray flux from the direction of the Sun and searching for an excess photon signal above the isotropic background. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory in Mexico has been taking data on the solar disk at TeV energies since the end of 2014. We present our first efforts to estimate th…
The distribution of the muon content of highly inclined Monte Carlo cosmic ray showers is affected by the influence of Earth's geomagnetic field. It is found that the shapes of the positive and negative muon distributions get affected/modified by the influence of the Earth's geomagnetic field. Such a correlation between the earth's geomagnetic activity and the cosmic ray (CR) air shower muons is found sensitive to the primary cosmic ray mass composition.
In this paper, the production of neutrinos and photons by ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) interacting with the extragalactic background radiation is studied. Centaurus A is assumed as the prime source of UHECR and the possibility to identify this source by detecting the secondary neutrinos and photons produced in the propagation of UHECR is investigated. Fifteen astrophysical models regarding three extragalactic magnetic fields (EGMF) and five composition abundances are simulated. The flux and arrival direction of neutrinos and photons are investigated. It is shown that the detection of …
The galactic cosmic rays are the main source of ionization in the Earth stratosphere and troposphere. The induced by primary cosmic ray particles ionization is important in various processes related to atmospheric physics and chemistry, specifically the minor constituents. The ion production in the atmosphere is enhanced compared to the average following major solar energetic particles events, specifically over the polar caps. During the solar cycle 23 we observed several strong ground level enhancements, one of the strongest among them been the Bastille day event on 14 July 2000. In the work …
It was recently discovered that in some regions of the Galaxy, the cosmic ray (CR) abundance is several orders of magnitude higher than previously thought. Additionally, there is evidence that in molecular cloud envelopes, the CR ionization may be dominated by electrons. We show that for regions with high, electron-dominated ionization, the penetration of CR electrons into molecular clouds is modulated by the electric field that develops as a result of the charge they deposit. We evaluate the significance of this novel mechanism of self-modulation and show that the CR penetration can be reduce…
Galactic cosmic rays and solar protons ionize the present terrestrial atmosphere, and the air showers are simulated by well-tested Monte-Carlo simulations, such as PHITS code. We use the latest version of PHITS to evaluate the possible ionization of protoplanetary disks by galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), solar protons, and by supernova remnants. The attenuation length of GCR ionization is updated as 118 g cm-2, which is approximately 20% larger than the popular value. Hard and soft possible spectra of solar protons give comparable and 20% smaller attenuation lengths compared with those from stand…
Based on tests of a tentative detector for observing geo-synchrotron hard X-rays generated by primary electrons, we study the feasibility of probing cosmic electrons above a few TeV to over 10 TeV. Such high energy electrons are expected to give proof of sources near the Earth (e.g. supernova remnants such as Vela: age < ~10^5 years located within <~1kpc). The idea itself is rather old; a high energy electron emits synchrotron X-rays successively in the geomagnetic field and thus gives several X-rays aligned on a meter scale. This feature is a clue to overcome the background problem encountere…
GeV-TeV gamma-rays and PeV-EeV neutrino backgrounds provide a unique window on the nature of the ultra-high-energy cosmic-rays (UHECRs). We discuss the implications of the recent Fermi-LAT data regarding the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) and related estimates of the contribution of point sources as well as IceCube neutrino data on the origin of the UHECRs. We calculate the diffuse flux of cosmogenic $γ$-rays and neutrinos produced by the UHECRs and derive constraints on the possible cosmological evolution of UHECR sources. In particular, we show that the mixed-composition scenario c…
GeV-TeV gamma-ray and PeV-EeV neutrino backgrounds provide a unique window on the nature of the ultra-high-energy cosmic-rays (UHECRs). We discuss the implications of the recent Fermi-LAT data regarding the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) and related estimates of the contribution of point sources as well as IceCube neutrino data on the origin of the UHECRs. We calculate the diffuse flux of cosmogenic $γ$-rays and neutrinos produced during the UHECRs propagation and derive constraints on the possible cosmological evolution of UHECR sources. In particular, we show that the mixed-composi…
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…
Energetic gamma rays (GeV to TeV photon energy) have been detected toward several supernova remnants (SNR) associated with molecular clouds. If the gamma rays are produced mainly by hadronic processes rather than leptonic processes like bremsstrahlung, then the flux of energetic cosmic ray (CR) nuclei (>1 GeV) required to produce the gamma rays can be inferred at the site where the particles are accelerated in SNR shocks. It is of great interest to understand the acceleration of the CR of lower energy (<1 GeV) accompanying the energetic component. These particles of lower energy are most effec…
Cosmic rays are a fundamental source of ionization for molecular and diffuse clouds, influencing their chemical, thermal, and dynamical evolution. The amount of cosmic rays inside a cloud also determines the $γ$-ray flux produced by hadronic collisions between cosmic rays and cloud material. We study the spectrum of cosmic rays inside and outside of a diffuse cloud, by solving the stationary transport equation for cosmic rays including diffusion, advection and energy losses due to ionization of neutral hydrogen atoms. We found that the cosmic ray spectrum inside a diffuse cloud differs from th…
High energy $γ$ rays from Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) carry direct information about the spatial and energy distributions of Galactic Cosmic Rays (CRs). The recently released catalogs of GMCs contain sufficiently massive clouds to be used as barometers for probing, through their $γ$-ray emission, the density of CRs throughout the Galactic Disk. Based on the data of \fermi{}, we report the discovery of $γ$-ray signals from nineteen GMCs located at distances up to 12.5 kpc. The galactocentric radial distribution of the CR density derived from the $γ$-ray and CO observations of these objects, a…
Observational and theoretical evidence suggests that high-energy Galactic cosmic rays are primarily accelerated by supernova remnants. If also true for low-energy cosmic rays, the ionization rate near a supernova remnant should be higher than in the general Galactic interstellar medium (ISM). We have searched for H3+ absorption features in 6 sight lines which pass through molecular material near IC 443---a well-studied case of a supernova remnant interacting with its surrounding molecular material---for the purpose of inferring the cosmic-ray ionization rate in the region. In 2 of the sight li…
Recent ultrahigh energy gamma-ray observations by the HAWC up to 100 TeV and LHAASO observatories up to 1.4 PeV energies from the direction of Fermi-LAT 4FGL source 4FGL J2028.6+4110e (Cygnus Cocoon), are indicative of a hadronic origin over a leptonic process for their creation. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has reported IceCube-201120A, a neutrino event coming from the same direction, suggesting that the Cygnus Cocoon may correspond to one of the most plausible sources of high-energy cosmic rays. The apparent relationship of the neutrino event with the observed ultra high energy gamma-ray…
The IceCube Collaboration has recently reported evidence for a high-energy extraterrestrial neutrino flux. During two years of operation 28 events with energies between 30 TeV and 1.2 PeV were observed while only 10.6 events were expected from conventional atmospheric backgrounds. The hadronic interactions responsible for this IceCube excess will also produce a flux of high-energy gamma-rays that can serve as a probe of source direction and distance. We show that existing TeV to PeV diffuse gamma-ray limits support the interpretation that the IceCube excess is mostly of extragalactic origin. H…
Cosmic rays pervade the Galaxy and are thought to be accelerated in supernova shocks. The interaction of cosmic rays with dense interstellar matter has two important effects: 1) high energy (>1 GeV) protons produce γ-rays by π0-meson decay; 2) low energy (< 1 GeV) cosmic rays (protons and electrons) ionize the gas. We present here new observations towards a molecular cloud close to the W51C supernova remnant and associated with a recently discovered TeV γ-ray source. Our observations show that the cloud ionization degree is highly enhanced, implying a cosmic ray ionization rate ~ 10-15 s-1, i.…
We consider the rate of ionization of diffuse and molecular clouds in the interstellar medium by Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) in order to constrain its low energy spectrum. We extrapolate the GCR spectrum obtained from PAMELA at high energies ($\ge 200$ GeV/ nucleon) and a recently derived GCR proton flux at $1\hbox{--}200$ GeV from observations of gamma rays from molecular clouds, and find that the observed average Galactic ionization rate can be reconciled with this GCR spectrum if there is a low energy cutoff for protons at $10\hbox{--}100$ MeV. We also identify the flattening below a few GeV…
Cosmic rays provide an important source for free electrons in the Earth's atmosphere and also in dense interstellar regions where they produce a prevailing background ionization. We utilize a Monte Carlo cosmic ray transport model for particle energies of 1 MeV < E < 1 GeV, and an analytic cosmic ray transport model for particle energies of 1 GeV < E < 1 TeV in order to investigate the cosmic ray enhancement of free electrons in substellar atmospheres of free-floating objects. The cosmic ray calculations are applied to Drift-Phoenix model atmospheres of an example brown dwarf with effective te…
Energetic gamma rays (GeV to TeV photon energy) have been detected toward several supernova remnants (SNR) that are associated with molecular clouds. If the gamma rays are produced mainly by hadronic processes rather than leptonic processes like bremsstrahlung, then the flux of energetic cosmic ray nuclei (>1 GeV) required to produce the gamma rays can be inferred at the site where the particles are accelerated in SNR shocks. It is of great interest to understand the acceleration of the cosmic rays of lower energy (<1 GeV) that accompany the energetic component. These particles of lower energy…
We present astrochemical photo-dissociation region models in which cosmic ray attenuation has been fully coupled to the chemical evolution of the gas. We model the astrochemical impact of cosmic rays, including those accelerated by protostellar accretion shocks, on molecular clouds hosting protoclusters. Our models with embedded protostars reproduce observed ionization rates. We study the imprint of cosmic ray attenuation on ions for models with different surface cosmic ray spectra and different star formation efficiencies. We find that abundances, particularly ions, are sensitive to the treat…
Recent work by Aplin and Lockwood [1] was interpreted by them as showing that there is a multiplying ratio of order 10$^{12}$ for the infra-red energy absorbed in the ionization produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere to the energy content of the cosmic rays themselves. We argue here that the interpretation of the result in terms of infra-red absorption by ionization is incorrect and that the result is therefore most likely due to a technical artefact
We report the results of our study of the energy spectra and absolute fluxes of cosmic rays (CRs) in the Local Galaxy based on a five-year $γ$-ray observation with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) of eight nearby giant molecular clouds (GMCs) belonging to the Gould Belt. The $γ$-ray signals obtained with high statistical significance allow the determination of $γ$-ray spectra above 300~MeV with adequate precision for extraction of the energy distributions of CRs in these clouds. Remarkably, both the derived spectral indices and the absolute fluxes of CR protons in the energy interval $10 -…
We investigate the effects of magnetic field configurations on the ionization rate by cosmic rays in protoplanetary disks. First, we consider cosmic-ray propagation from the interstellar medium (ISM) to the protoplanetary disks and showed that the cosmic-ray density around the disk should be 2 times lower than the ISM value. Then, we compute the attenuation of cosmic rays in protoplanetary disks. The magnetic fields in the disk are stretched to the azimuthal directions, and cosmic rays need to detour while propagating to the midplane. Our results show that the detouring effectively enhances th…
G31.9+0.0 (3C 391) is a Galactic mixed-morphology supernova remnant observed in GeV gamma rays by Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope's LAT (Fermi-LAT), as well as in the 0.3-10 keV X-ray band by Suzaku. In this paper, we will present the analysis results of X- and gamma-ray data of 3C 391 taken with Suzaku and Fermi-LAT. The X-ray spectrum of 3C 391 was fitted to a single-temperature variable abundance non-equilibrium ionization model with an electron temperature of kTe ~ 0.57 keV, an absorbing column density of NH ~ 3.1 x 10^{22} cm^{-2} and a very high ionization age (τ> 10^{12} cm^{-3} s), whi…
We show that solar $γ$-ray observations can provide a complementary probe of Dark Matter in scenarios where the interactions with the Standard Model proceed via long-lived mediators. For illustration we consider a simplified model which provides solar $γ$-ray fluxes observable with the next generation $γ$-ray telescopes, while complying with the existing experimental constraints. Our results suggest that solar $γ$-ray fluxes can be orders of magnitude larger than the ones from the Galactic center, while being subject to low backgrounds.
We present results of semi-analytic calculations which show clear evidence for changes in the non-equilibrium ionization behind a supernova remnant forward shock undergoing efficient diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). The efficient acceleration of particles (i.e., cosmic rays) lowers the shock temperature and raises the density of the shocked gas, thus altering the ionization state of the plasma in comparison to the test particle approximation where cosmic rays gain an insignificant fraction of the shock energy. The differences between the test particle and efficient acceleration cases are su…
Cosmic rays are a fundamental source of ionization for molecular and diffuse clouds, influencing their chemical, thermal, and dynamical evolution. The amount of cosmic rays inside a cloud also determines the $γ$-ray flux produced by hadronic collisions between cosmic rays and cloud material. We study the spectrum of cosmic rays inside and outside of a diffuse cloud, by solving the stationary transport equation for cosmic rays including diffusion, advection and energy losses due to ionization of neutral hydrogen atoms. We found that the cosmic ray spectrum inside a diffuse cloud differs from th…
Cosmic rays are usually assumed to be the main ionization agent for the interior of molecular clouds where UV and X-ray photons cannot penetrate. Here we test this hypothesis by limiting ourselves to the case of diffuse clouds and assuming that the average cosmic ray spectrum inside the Galaxy is equal to the one at the position of the Sun as measured by Voyager 1 and AMS-02. To calculate the cosmic ray spectrum inside the clouds, we solve the one-dimensional transport equation taking into account advection, diffusion and energy losses. While outside the cloud particles diffuse, in its interio…
Supernova remnants interacting with molecular clouds are ideal laboratories to study the acceleration of particles at shock waves and their transport and interactions in the surrounding interstellar medium. In this paper, we focus on the supernova remnant W28, which over the years has been observed in all energy domains from radio waves to very-high-energy gamma rays. The bright gamma-ray emission detected from molecular clouds located in its vicinity revealed the presence of accelerated GeV and TeV particles in the region. An enhanced ionization rate has also been measured by means of millime…
We investigate the ionization of the diffuse interstellar medium by cosmic rays by modeling their propagation along the wandering magnetic fields using a Monte Carlo method. We study how low-energy cosmic rays propagate in turbulent, translucent molecular clouds, and how they regulate the ionization and both lose and gain energy from the medium. As a test case, we use high spatial resolution (0.03 pc) CO maps of a well-studied high latitude translucent cloud, MBM 3, to model turbulence. The propagation problem is solved with a modified Monte Carlo procedure that includes trapping, energization…
The possible effect of solar variability, accordingly cosmic rays variation on atmospheric physics and chemistry is highly debated over the last years. According to several recent models the induced by cosmic rays atmospheric ionization plays a key role in several different processes. At recent, an apparent effect on minor constituents and aerosols over polar regions during major solar proton events was observed. The ion production rate during ground level enhancements is a superposition of the contribution of cosmic rays with galactic and solar origin. The solar cycle 23 provided several stro…
Cosmic rays are appealing as a source of ionization in starburst galaxies because of the great columns they can penetrate, but in the densest regions of starbursts, they may be stopped by pion production and ionization energy losses. I argue that gamma rays are the source of ionization in the deepest molecular clouds of dense starbursts, creating Gamma-Ray Dominated Regions (GRDRs). Gamma rays are not deflected by magnetic fields, have a luminosity up to ~1/3 that of the injected cosmic rays, and can easily penetrate column depths of ~100 g/cm^2 before being attenuated by gamma-Z pair producti…
We show that the secondary electrons ejected from the ionization of heavy ions can be injected into the acceleration process that occurs at supernova remnant shocks. This electron injection mechanism works since ions are ionized during the acceleration when they move already with relativistic speed, just like ejected electrons do. Using the abundances of heavy nuclei measured in cosmic rays at Earth, we estimate the electron/proton ratio at the source to be ~10^-4, big enough to account for the nonthermal synchrotron emission observed in young SNRs. We also show that the ionization process can…
From the rate of hydrogen ionization and the gamma ray flux, we derived the spectrum of relativistic and subrelativistic cosmic rays (CRs) nearby and inside the molecular cloud Sgr B2 near the Galactic Center (GC). We studied two cases of CR propagation in molecular clouds: free propagation and scattering of particles by magnetic fluctuations excited by the neutral gas turbulence. We showed that in the latter case CR propagation inside the cloud can be described as diffusion with the coefficient $\sim 3\times 10^{27}$ cm$^2$ s$^{-1}$. For the case of hydrogen ionization by subrelativistic prot…
Galactic diffuse TeV gamma-ray emission is produced by the interaction of high-energy cosmic-ray particles with matter and radiation in our Galaxy. The measurement of Galactic diffuse TeV gamma-ray emission would provide strong constraints on the acceleration and propagation of Galactic cosmic rays. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory, located in central Mexico at 4100 m above sea level, is sensitive to gamma rays between a few hundreds GeV and about 100 TeV. Thanks to its large field of view of 2 steradians and excellent background estimation, HAWC has a unique capability to …
We study a possible connection between processes of gamma-ray emission and hydrogen ionization in a few pc of central region around Sgr A*. Previous investigations showed there is a discrepancy between interpretation of gamma-ray and ionization data if gamma-rays are generated by proton-proton collisions. Here we provided analysis of processes of ionization and emission basing on analytical and numerical calculations of kinetic equations which describe processes of particle propagation and their energy losses. The origin of gamma rays could be either due to collisions of relativistic protons w…
Recent studies have suggested that low-energy cosmic rays (CRs) may be accelerated inside molecular clouds by the shocks associated with star formation. We use a Monte Carlo transport code to model the propagation of CRs accelerated by protostellar accretion shocks through protostellar cores. We calculate the CR attenuation and energy losses and compute the resulting flux and ionization rate as a function of both radial distance from the protostar and angular position. We show that protostellar cores have non-uniform CR fluxes that produce a broad range of CR ionization rates, with the maximum…
Low-energy cosmic rays, in particular protons with energies below 1 GeV, are significant drivers of the thermochemistry of molecular clouds. However, these cosmic rays are also greatly impacted by energy losses and magnetic field transport effects in molecular gas. Explaining cosmic ray ionization rates of $10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$ or greater in dense gas requires either a high external cosmic ray flux, or local sources of MeV-GeV cosmic ray protons. We present a new local source of low-energy cosmic rays in molecular clouds: first order Fermi-acceleration of protons in regions undergoing turbulent …
A possible hint of dark matter annihilation has been found in Cuoco, Korsmeier and Krämer (2017) from an analysis of recent cosmic-ray antiproton data from AMS-02 and taking into account cosmic-ray propagation uncertainties by fitting at the same time dark matter and propagation parameters. Here, we extend this analysis to a wider class of annihilation channels. We find consistent hints of a dark matter signal with an annihilation cross-section close to the thermal value and with masses in range between 40 and 130 GeV depending on the annihilation channel. Furthermore, we investigate in how fa…
Cosmic rays are crucial for the chemistry of molecular clouds and their evolution. They provide essential ionizations, dissociations, heating and energy to the cold, dense cores. As cosmic rays pierce through the clouds they are attenuated and lose energy, which leads to a dependency on the column density of a system. The detailed effects these particles have on the central regions still needs to be fully understood. Here, we revisit how cosmic rays are treated in the UCLCHEM chemical modeling code by including both ionization rate and H2 dissociation rate dependencies alongside the production…
The Cherenkov Telescopic Array (CTA), the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory, will have unprecedented sensitivity, providing answers to open questions in gamma-ray cosmology and fundamental physics. Using simulations of active galactic nuclei observations foreseen in the CTA Key Science Program, we find that CTA will measure gamma-ray absorption on the extragalactic background light with a statistical error below 15% up to the redshift of 2 and detect or establish limits on gamma halos induced by the intergalactic magnetic field of at least 0.3 pG. Extragalactic observations us…
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported an excess in the number of muons of a few tens of percent over expectations computed using extrapolation of hadronic interaction models tuned to accommodate LHC data. Very recently, we proposed an explanation for the muon excess assuming the formation of a deconfined quark matter (fireball) state in central collisions of ultrarelativistic cosmic rays with air nuclei. At the first stage of its evolution the fireball contains gluons as well as $u$ and $d$ quarks. The very high baryochemical potential inhibits gluons from fragmenting into $u \bar u$ and…
The bulk propagation speed of GeV-energy cosmic rays is limited by frequent scattering off hydromagnetic waves. Most galaxy evolution simulations that account for this confinement assume the gas is fully ionized and cosmic rays are well-coupled to Alfvén waves; however, multiphase density inhomogeneities, frequently under-resolved in galaxy evolution simulations, induce cosmic ray collisions and ionization-dependent transport driven by cosmic ray decoupling and elevated streaming speeds in partially neutral gas. How do cosmic rays navigate and influence such a medium, and can we constrain this…
In light of evidence for a high ionization rate due to Low-Energy Cosmic Rays (LECR), in diffuse molecular gas in the solar neighbourhood, we evaluate their heat input to the Warm Ionized Medium (WIM). LECR are much more effective at heating plasma than they are at heating neutrals. We show that the upper end of the measured ionization rates corresponds to a local LECR heating rate sufficient to maintain the WIM against radiative cooling, independent of the nature of the ionizing particles or the detailed shape of their spectrum. Elsewhere in the Galaxy the LECR heating rates may be higher tha…
