I review the status of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) physics.After introducing the main experimental results and summarizing possible intepretations, I discuss observational and theoretical constraints on the sources of UHECRs. I comment also briefly on the role of magnetic fields. Combining these constraints, I argue that luminuous and numerous AGN types as FR-I and Seyfert galaxies, or alternatively hypernovae, are the most promising UHECR sources. Finally, I sketch few of the models presented at the conference before concluding.
The understanding of the nature of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is one of the most intriguing open questions for current and future observatories. These particles are expected to be accelerated in extragalactic sources. Because of their low flux, their detection is done indirectly observing extensive air-showers, with ground-based experiments. A review of the detection technique and the most recent results is presented with a look to the perspectives for the future.
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 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…
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…
Cosmic rays accelerated to ultra-high energies (E>4x10^19 eV) in electric fields in accretion discs around supermassive black holes are discussed. Particle injection spectra are assumed to be harder than those formed in acceleration on shock fronts. It turned out that cosmic rays with injection spectra supposed contribute a little in the particle flux detected with ground-based arrays. But in the extragalactic space particle generate a noticeable flux of the diffuse gamma-ray emission compared with the data obtained with the Fermi LAT instrument (onboard the Fermi space observatory). The inten…
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.
In this paper we review the extragalactic propagation of ultrahigh energy cosmic-rays (UHECR). We present the different energy loss processes of protons and nuclei, and their expected influence on energy evolution of the UHECR spectrum and composition. We discuss the possible implications of the recent composition analyses provided by the Pierre Auger Observatory. The influence of extragalactic magnetic fields and possible departures from the rectilinear case are also mentioned as well as the production of secondary cosmogenic neutrinos and photons and the constraints their observation would i…
We study the effects that the diffusion of the cosmic rays in the magnetic field of the Local Supercluster can have on the spectrum of a nearby extragalactic source at ultrahigh energies. We find that the strong enhancement of the flux below the energy at which the transition between the diffusive and quasirectilinear regimes takes place, as well as the suppression at lower energies associated with a finite source age, can help to explain the observed features of the cosmic-ray spectrum and the composition. Scenarios are discussed in which a nearby extragalactic source with mixed composition a…
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 …
The extragalactic sources of ultra-high-energy (E > 4x10^19 eV) cosmic rays that make a small contribution to the flux of particles recorded by ground-based arrays are discussed. We show that cosmic rays from such sources can produce a noticeable diffuse gamma-ray flux in intergalactic space compared to the the data obtained with Fermi LAT (onboard the Fermi space observatory). A possible type of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in which cosmic-ray protons can be accelerated to energies 1021 eV is considered as an illustration of such sources. We conclude that ultra-high-energy cosmic rays from t…
The large scale pattern in the arrival directions of extragalactic cosmic rays that reach the Earth is different from that of the flux arriving to the halo of the Galaxy as a result of the propagation through the galactic magnetic field. Two different effects are relevant in this process: deflections of trajectories and (de)acceleration by the electric field component due to the galactic rotation. The deflection of the cosmic ray trajectories makes the flux intensity arriving to the halo from some direction to appear reaching the Earth from another direction. This applies to any intrinsic anis…
From the analysis of the flux of high energy particles, $E>3\cdot 10^{18}eV$, it is shown that the distribution of the power density of extragalactic rays over energy is of the power law, ${\bar q}(E)\propto E^{-2.7}$, with the same index of $2.7$ that has the distribution of Galactic cosmic rays before so called 'knee', $E<3\cdot 10^{15}eV$. However, the average power of extragalactic sources, which is of ${\cal E}\simeq 10^{43}erg \,s^{-1}$, at least two orders exceeds the power emitted by the Galaxy in cosmic rays, assuming that the density of galaxies is estimated as $N_g\simeq 1 Mpc^{-3}$…
We obtain the dipolar anisotropies in the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays diffusing from nearby extragalactic sources. We discuss both the energy regime of spatial diffusion and the quasi-rectilinear one leading to just angular diffusion at higher energies. We obtain analytic results for the anisotropies from a single source which are validated using two different numerical simulations. For a scenario with a few sources in the local supercluster (with the closest source at a typical distance of few to tens of Mpc), we discuss the possible transition between the case in whic…
We constrain the energy at which the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays occurs by computing the anisotropy at Earth of cosmic rays emitted by Galactic sources. Since the diffusion approximation starts to loose its validity for E/Z >~ 10^(16-17) eV, we propagate individual cosmic rays (CRs) using Galactic magnetic field models and taking into account both their regular and turbulent components. The turbulent field is generated on a nested grid which allows spatial resolution down to fractions of a parsec. Assuming sufficiently frequent Galactic CR sources, the dipole amplitud…
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…
We study the spectrum and anisotropies of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray transient sources, accounting for the effects of their propagation through the turbulent extragalactic magnetic fields. We consider either bursting sources or sources emitting since a given initial time. We analyse in detail the transition between the diffusive and the quasi-rectilinear regimes, describing some new features that could be present
We consider the possibility of explaining the observed spectrum and composition of the cosmic rays with energies above $10^{17}$ eV in terms of two different extragalactic populations of sources in the presence of a turbulent intergalactic magnetic field (including also a fading Galactic cosmic-ray component). The populations are considered to be the superposition of different nuclear species having rigidity dependent spectra. The first extragalactic population is dominant in the energy range $10^{17}$ to $10^{18}$ eV and consists of sources having a relatively large density ($> 10^{-3}$ Mpc$^…
More than 100 years after the discovery of cosmic rays and various experimental efforts, the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (E > 100 PeV) remains unclear. The understanding of production and propagation effects of these highest energetic particles in the universe is one of the most intense research fields of high-energy astrophysics. With the advent of advanced simulation engines developed during the last couple of years, and the increase of experimental data, we are now in a unique position to model source and propagation parameters in an unprecedented precision and compare it to mea…
In this paper, a probable interpretation of a remarkable fine structure of all particle spectra between the knee and the ankle, as well as a high content of heavy nuclei around 10^17 eV measured recently in Tunka-133 and KASCADE Grande experiments, is presented in the model where production of cosmic rays in Type Ia SNRs provides observed cosmic rays (CR) flux around the knee. Subtracting the contribution of these sources from all particle spectrum we obtained the residual flux of CR in the transition region between Galactic and Extragalactic CR in the range 10^17-5 10^18 eV. The obtained spec…
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays interacting with the radiation fields in the universe cause electromagnetic cascades resulting in a flux of extragalactic gamma rays, detectable to some 100 GeV. Recent precise measurements of the extragalactic gamma ray flux by Fermi-LAT, coupled with estimates of the background from active galactic nuclei of various types, allows limits to be set on the cascade component. By comparison with prediction and, making various assumptions, ie taking a particular model, limits can be set on the maximum energy to which ultra-high energy particle can be accelerated. If o…
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 $10^{17}$ 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 d…
In the extragalactic sky, microquasars and ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are known as energetic compact objects locating at off-nucleus positions in galaxies. Some of these objects are associated with expanding bubbles with a velocity of 80-250 ${\rm km~s^{-1}}$. We investigate the shock acceleration of particles in those expanding nebulae. The nebulae having fast expansion velocity $\gtrsim120~{\rm km~s^{-1}}$ are able to accelerate cosmic rays up to $\sim100$ TeV. If 10% of the shock kinetic energy goes into particle acceleration, powerful nebulae such as the microquasar S26 in NGC 779…
The spectral energy distribution and variability of several blazars (Mkn 501, 1 ES 2344+51.4, PKS 2155-30.4, 1 ES 1218+30.4, 3C 454.3) along the blazar sequence is investigated using a selfconsistent and timedependent lepto-hadronic hybrid emission model. The BL Lac objects in the list are successfully modelled with purely leptonic radiation processes (essentially Synchrotron Self-Compton emission), while the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar requires highly relativistic hadrons to be present within the jet. Variability is exploited as well with our model to distinguish between Self-Compton and hadro…
Ultrahigh energy protons and nuclei from extragalactic cosmic ray sources initiate intergalactic electromagnetic cascades, resulting in observable fluxes of $γ$-rays in the GeV-TeV energy domain. The total spectrum of such cascade $γ$-rays of hadronic nature is significantly harder than the one usually expected from blazars. The spectra of some sources known as "extreme TeV blazars" could be well-described by this "intergalactic hadronic cascade model" (IHCM). We calculate the shape of the observable point-like spectrum, as well as the observable angular distibution of $γ$-rays, for the first …
The origin of cosmic rays at all energies is still uncertain. In this paper we present and explore an astrophysical scenario to produce cosmic rays with energy ranging from below $10^{15}$ o $3 \times 10^{20}$ eV. We show here that just our Galaxy and the radio galaxy Cen A, each with their own galactic cosmic ray particles, but with those from the radio galaxy pushed up in energy by a relativistic shock in the jet emanating from the active black hole, are sufficient to describe the most recent data in the energy range PeV to near ZeV. Data are available over this entire energy range from the …
In this paper, we study the propagation of cosmic-ray nuclei and protons. We emphasize the influence of the source composition on the expected spectrum and composition on Earth as well as on the phenomenology of the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic-rays and the interpretation of the ankle. We point out that the different source composition models cannot be distinguished on the sole basis of the cosmic-ray spectrum but that the the energy evolution of $<X_{\max}>$ should remove this degeneracy. Finally, we compare the predictions for the different source composition models with …
We obtain the dipolar anisotropies in the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic ray nuclei diffusing from nearby extragalactic sources. We consider mixed-composition scenarios in which different cosmic ray nuclei are accelerated up to the same maximum rigidity, so that $E<ZE_\text{max}^p$, with $Z$ the atomic number and $E_\text{max}^p$ the maximum proton energy. We adopt $E_\text{max}^p\simeq 6$ EeV so as to account for an increasingly heavier composition above the ankle. We obtain the anisotropies through Monte Carlo simulations that implement the cosmic ray diffusion in extragalact…
We discuss ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic rays (CR) from minor sources and their possible contribution to the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray emission. As an illustration of minor sources we consider possible specific type of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in which supermassive black hole is surrounded by a super strong magnetic field of 10^(10)-10^(11) Gs. In this model we have calculated CR energy spectra at the Earth and intensity of cascade quanta produced by CRs in extragalactic space. Proceeding from numerical results and the data by Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array it is shown…
Very high energy γ-rays are one of the most important messengers of the non-thermal Universe. The major motivation of very high energy γ-ray astronomy is to find sources of high energy cosmic rays. Several astrophysical sources are known to accelerate cosmic rays to very high energies under extreme conditions. Very high energy γ-rays are produced at these astrophysical sites or near through interactions of cosmic rays in the surrounding medium close to the sources. Gamma-rays, being neutral, travel in a straight line and thus give us valuable information about the cosmic ray sources and their …
We interpret the correlation between local star-forming galaxy positions and ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) directions, recently detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO), in terms of physical parameters: the local density of sources and the magnetic fields governing the UHECR propagation. We include a Galactic magnetic field model on top of a random extragalactic magnetic field description to determine the level of UHECR deflections expected from an ensemble of source positions. Besides deflections in magnetic fields, we also take into account energy losses with background photon f…
The sharp change in slope of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray (UHECR) spectrum around 10^18.6 eV (the ankle), combined with evidence of a light but extragalactic component near and below the ankle and intermediate composition above, has proved exceedingly challenging to understand theoretically, without fine-tuning. We propose a mechanism whereby photo-disintegration of ultrahigh energy nuclei in the region surrounding a UHECR accelerator accounts for the observed spectrum and inferred composition at Earth. For suitable source conditions, the model reproduces the spectrum and the composition ov…
We study the anisotropies on large angular scales which can be present in the flux of cosmic rays reaching the Earth from a population of extragalactic sources, focusing on the energy range between the second knee and the ankle. In this energy range the particles are significantly affected by the Galactic magnetic field, which then plays a relevant role in shaping the expected anisotropies. The Galactic magnetic field deflects the cosmic-ray trajectories and thus modifies the anisotropies present outside the halo of the Galaxy, in particular the dipolar one associated with the translational mo…
We review the experimental evidences about flux and mass composition of ultra high energy cosmic rays in connection with theoretical scenarios concerning astrophysical sources. In this context, we also address the discussion about the expected transition between cosmic rays produced inside the Galaxy and those coming from the intergalactic space.
Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are expected to be accelerated in astrophysical 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.
We show that the cosmic ray (CR) knee can be entirely explained by energy-dependent CR leakage from the Milky Way, with an excellent fit to all existing data. We test this hypothesis calculating the trajectories of individual CRs in the Galactic magnetic field. We find that the CR escape time $τ_{\rm esc}(E)$ exhibits a knee-like structure around $E/Z={\rm few}\times 10^{15}$ eV for small coherence lengths and strengths of the turbulent magnetic field. The resulting intensities for different groups of nuclei are consistent with the ones determined by KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande, using simple po…
The sharp change in slope of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) spectrum around 10^{18.6} eV (the ankle), combined with evidence of a light but extragalactic component near and below the ankle which evolves to intermediate composition above, has proved exceedingly challenging to understand theoretically. We show that for a range of source conditions, photo-disintegration of ultra-high energy nuclei in the region surrounding a UHECR accelerator naturally accounts for the observed spectrum and composition of the entire extragalactic component, which dominates above about 10^{17.5} eV. The …
Recent observations of blazars at high energy (HE, 0.1-100 GeV) and very high energy (VHE, >0.1 TeV) have provided important constraints on the intensity and spectrum of the diffuse Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), shedding light on its main origin. Several issues remain open, however, in particular in the mid- and far-infrared bands and in the blazar emission at multi-TeV energies. This review summarizes the observational and theoretical progress in the study of the EBL with gamma-rays and the most promising future improvements, which are mainly expected from spectra in the multi-TeV ran…
Most models of the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays rely on the existence of luminous extragalactic sources. Cosmic rays escaping the galaxy where the source is located produce a sufficiently large electric current to justify the investigation of plasma instabilities induced by such current. Most interesting is the excitation of modes that lead to production of magnetic perturbations that may scatter particles thereby hindering their escape, or at least changing the propagation mode of escaping cosmic rays. We argue that self-generation of waves may force cosmic rays to be confined in t…
Detecting and characterizing the anisotropy pattern of the arrival directions of the highest energy cosmic rays are crucial steps towards the identification of their sources. We discuss a possible distortion of the cosmic ray flux induced by the anisotropic and inhomogeneous distribution of extragalactic magnetic fields in cases where sources of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays are rare transient phenomena, such as gamma-ray bursts and/or newly born magnetars. This distortion does not involve an angular deflection but the modulation of the flux related to the probability of seeing the source on an…
We aim to explain in a unified way the experimental data on ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECR) and neutrinos, using a single source class and obeying limits on the extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray background (EGRB). If UHECRs only interact hadronically with gas around their sources, the resulting diffuse CR flux can be matched well to the observed one, providing at the same time large neutrino fluxes. However, air showers in the Earth's atmosphere induced by UHECRs with energies $E>3\times 10^{18}$ eV would reach in such a case their maxima too high. Therefore additional photo-hadronic intera…
Possible existence of extragalactic ultra-high energy cosmic ray sources giving a very small particle flux on the Earth is considered. Accretion discs around supermassive black holes where particles are accelerated in electric fields are discussed as an illustration of such sources. Due to acceleration mechanism particle injection spectra are assumed to be hard. In this case particle flux on the Earth is too low for detection. But particles produce in space a noticeable flux of diffuse gamma-ray emission via electromagnetic cascades. It should be accounted for when analyzing other source model…
We provide our estimates of the intensity of the gamma-ray emission with an energy near 0.1 TeV generated in inrergalactic space in the interactions of cosmic rays with background emissions. We assume that the cosmic ray sources are point-like and these are active galactic nuclei. The following pjssible types of sources are considered: remote and powerful ones, at redshifts up to z=1.1, with a monoenergetic particle spectrum, E=10^21 eV; the same objects, but with a power-law particle spectrum; and nearby sources with redshifts 0<z<=0.0092, i.e. at distances no larger than 50 Mpc also with a p…
Observations of TeV--PeV-energy cosmic neutrinos by the IceCube observatory have suggested that extragalactic cosmic-ray sources should have an optical depth greater than $\sim$0.01 and contribute to more than 10\% of the observed bulk of cosmic rays at 10 PeV. If the spectrum of cosmic rays from these extragalactic sources extends well beyond 1 EeV, the neutrino flux indicates that extragalactic cosmic-ray protons are dominant in the observed total cosmic-ray flux at 1 EeV. Among known powerful astronomical objects, including gamma-ray bursters (GRBs), only flat-spectrum radio quasars could (…
The study of the transition between galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays can shed more light on the end of the Galactic cosmic rays spectrum and the beginning of the extragalactic one. Three models of transition are discussed: ankle, dip and mixed composition models. All these models describe the transition as an intersection of a steep galactic component with a flat extragalactic one. Severe bounds on these models are provided by the Standard Model of Galactic Cosmic Rays according to which the maximum acceleration energy for Iron nuclei is of the order of $E_{\rm Fe}^{\rm max} \approx 1\ti…
The ultra-high energy cosmic rays observed at 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 $E<E_{\rm cut}$, where $E_{\rm cut}\approx 10^{7} L_{44}^{2/3}$ GeV for low background magnetic fields ($B_{0}\ll nG$). For larger values …
The ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray anisotropies discovered by the Pierre Auger Observatory give the potential to finally address both the particles' origins and properties of the nearby extragalactic magnetic field (EGMF). We examine the implications of the excess of ~ 10^20 eV events around the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A. We find that, if Cen A is the source of these cosmic rays, the angular distribution of events constrains the EGMF strength within several Mpc of the Milky Way to > 20 nG for an assumed primary proton composition. Our conclusions suggest that either the observed excess is a…
Despite the fact that jets from black holes were first understood to exist over 40 years ago, we are still in ignorance about many primary aspects of these systems -- including the radiation mechanism at high energies, the particle makeup of the jets, and how particles are accelerated, possibly to energies as high as 100 TeV and hundreds of kpc from the central engine. We focus in particular on the discovery (and mystery) of strong X-ray emission from radio jets on kpc-scales, enabled by the unequaled high resolution of the \emph{Chandra} X-ray observatory. We review the main evidence for and …
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.
Presently there are several classes of detected gamma-ray extragalatic sources. They are mostly associated to active galactic nuclei (AGN) and (at soft gamma rays) to gamma-ray bursts (GRB), but not only. Active galactic nuclei consist of accreting supermassive black holes hosted by a galaxy that present in some cases powerful relativistic jet activity. These sources, which have been studied in gamma rays for several decades, are probably the most energetic astrophysical objects, and their appearance depends much on whether their jets point to us. Gamma-ray bursts, thought to be associated to …
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-…
Origins of Cosmic Rays in the Galactic-extragalactic Transition Energy Range
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)（布鲁塞尔自由大学）；Radboud University Nijmegen（奈梅亨拉德堡德大学）；Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)（卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院）；University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）；Curtin University（科廷大学）；University of Groningen（格罗宁根大学）；Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)（荷兰射电天文研究所）；Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院紫金山天文台）；Nikhef（荷兰国家核与亚原子物理研究所）；Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur（坎普尔印度理工学院）；Khalifa University（哈利法大学）；Can Tho University（芹苳大学）；Nanjing University（南京大学）；Xidian University（西安电子科技大学）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）
Gamma-rays propagating through space are likely to be extinguished via electron-positron pair production off of the ambient extragalactic background light (EBL). The spectrum of the EBL is produced by starlight (and starlight reprocessed by dust) from all galaxies throughout the history of the Universe. The attenuation of 40 - 400 GeV gamma-rays has been observed by \textit{Fermi} and used to measure the EBL spectrum over energies 1 eV -10 eV out to redshift $z\sim 1$. Measurements of several TeV blazers are consistent with attenuation, attributed to the EBL at redshift $z\sim 0.1$. Here we si…
In addition to gamma-rays, dark matter annihilation products can include energetic electrons which inverse Compton scatter with the cosmic microwave background to produce a diffuse extragalactic background of gamma-rays and X-rays. In models in which the dark matter particles annihilate primarily to electrons or muons, the measurements of EGRET and COMPTEL can provide significant constraints on the annihilation cross section. The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope will likely provide an even more stringent test of such scenarios.
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.
