ترغب بنشر مسار تعليمي؟ اضغط هنا

Cosmic-ray energy spectrum and composition up to the ankle - the case for a second Galactic component

52   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Satyendra Thoudam Dr.
 تاريخ النشر 2016
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English




اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث

We have carried out a detailed study to understand the observed energy spectrum and composition of cosmic rays with energies up to ~10^18 eV. Our study shows that a single Galactic component with subsequent energy cut-offs in the individual spectra of different elements, optimised to explain the observed spectra below ~10^14 eV and the knee in the all-particle spectrum, cannot explain the observed all-particle spectrum above ~2x10^16 eV. We discuss two approaches for a second component of Galactic cosmic rays -- re-acceleration at a Galactic wind termination shock, and supernova explosions of Wolf-Rayet stars, and show that the latter scenario can explain almost all observed features in the all-particle spectrum and the composition up to ~10^18 eV, when combined with a canonical extra-galactic spectrum expected from strong radio galaxies or a source population with similar cosmological evolution. In this two-component Galactic model, the knee at ~ 3x10^15 eV and the second knee at ~10^17 eV in the all-particle spectrum are due to the cut-offs in the first and second components, respectively. We also discuss several variations of the extra-galactic component, from a minimal contribution to scenarios with a significant component below the ankle (at ~4x10^18 eV), and find that extra-galactic contributions in excess of regular source evolution are neither indicated nor in conflict with the existing data. Our main result is that the second Galactic component predicts a composition of Galactic cosmic rays at and above the second knee that largely consists of helium or a mixture of helium and CNO nuclei, with a weak or essentially vanishing iron fraction, in contrast to most common assumptions. This prediction is in agreement with new measurements from LOFAR and the Pierre Auger Observatory which indicate a strong light component and a rather low iron fraction between ~10^17 and 10^18 eV.

قيم البحث

اقرأ أيضاً

We report a first measurement for ultra-high energy cosmic rays of the correlation between the depth of shower maximum and the signal in the water Cherenkov stations of air-showers registered simultaneously by the fluorescence and the surface detecto rs of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Such a correlation measurement is a unique feature of a hybrid air-shower observatory with sensitivity to both the electromagnetic and muonic components. It allows an accurate determination of the spread of primary masses in the cosmic-ray flux. Up till now, constraints on the spread of primary masses have been dominated by systematic uncertainties. The present correlation measurement is not affected by systematics in the measurement of the depth of shower maximum or the signal in the water Cherenkov stations. The analysis relies on general characteristics of air showers and is thus robust also with respect to uncertainties in hadronic event generators. The observed correlation in the energy range around the `ankle at $lg(E/{rm eV})=18.5-19.0$ differs significantly from expectations for pure primary cosmic-ray compositions. A light composition made up of proton and helium only is equally inconsistent with observations. The data are explained well by a mixed composition including nuclei with mass $A > 4$. Scenarios such as the proton dip model, with almost pure compositions, are thus disfavoured as the sole explanation of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray flux at Earth.
The cosmic ray flux measured by the Telescope Array Low Energy Extension (TALE) exhibits three spectral features: the knee, the dip in the $10^{16}$ eV decade, and the second knee. Here the spectrum has been measured for the first time using fluoresc ence telescopes, which provide a calorimetric, model-independent result. The spectrum appears to be a rigidity-dependent cutoff sequence, where the knee is made by the hydrogen and helium portions of the composition, the dip comes from the reduction in composition from helium to metals, the rise to the second knee occurs due to intermediate range nuclei, and the second knee is the iron knee.
144 - S. Recchia , P. Blasi , G. Morlino 2017
Cosmic Rays escaping the Galaxy exert a force on the interstellar medium directed away from the Galactic disk. If this force is larger than the gravitational pull due to the mass embedded in the Galaxy, then galactic winds may be launched. Such outfl ows may have important implications for the history of star formation of the host galaxy, and in turn affect in a crucial way the transport of cosmic rays, both due to advection with the wind and to the excitation of waves by the same cosmic rays, through streaming instability. The possibility to launch cosmic ray induced winds and the properties of such winds depend on environmental conditions, such as the density and temperature of the plasma at the base of the wind and the gravitational potential, especially the one contributed by the dark matter halo. In this paper we make a critical assessment of the possibility to launch cosmic ray induced winds for a Milky-Way-like galaxy and how the properties of the wind depend upon the conditions at the base of the wind. Special attention is devoted to the implications of different conditions for wind launching on the spectrum of cosmic rays observed at different locations in the disc of the galaxy. We also comment on how cosmic ray induced winds compare with recent observations of Oxygen absorption lines in quasar spectra and emission lines from blank-sky, as measured by XMM-Newton/EPIC-MOS.
169 - Andreas Haungs 2015
Investigations of the energy spectrum as well as the mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range of PeVto EeV are important for understanding both, the origin of the galactic and the extragalactic cosmic rays. Recently, three modern experimen tal installations (KASCADE-Grande, IceTop, Tunka-133), dedicated to investigate this primary energy range, have published new results on the all-particle energy spectrum. In this short review these results are presented and the similarities and differences discussed. In addition, the effects of using different hadronic interaction models for interpreting the measured air-shower data will be examined. Finally, a brief discussion on the question if the present results are in agreement or in contradiction with astrophysical models for the transition from galactic to 10 pagesextragalactic origin of cosmic rays completes this paper.
The mass composition of high energy cosmic rays depends on their production, acceleration, and propagation. The study of cosmic ray composition can therefore reveal hints of the origin of these particles. At the South Pole, the IceCube Neutrino Obser vatory is capable of measuring two components of cosmic ray air showers in coincidence: the electromagnetic component at high altitude (2835 m) using the IceTop surface array, and the muonic component above ~1 TeV using the IceCube array. This unique detector arrangement provides an opportunity for precision measurements of the cosmic ray energy spectrum and composition in the region of the knee and beyond. We present the results of a neural network analysis technique to study the cosmic ray composition and the energy spectrum from 1 PeV to 30 PeV using data recorded using the 40-string/40-station configuration of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
mircosoft-partner

هل ترغب بارسال اشعارات عن اخر التحديثات في شمرا-اكاديميا