Composition and Origin of Cosmic Rays

ISBN-13: 9789400971684 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 414 str.

M. M. Shapiro

Opis

Particle astronomy - the study of cosmic radiation - was the first of the new astronomies to emerge in the twentieth cen- tury. Although cosmic-ray phenomena have been fruitfully investi- gated for some seventy years, the central engima - the origin of these high-energy particles - remains a challenge. Among the ob- servational clues to possible sites and mechanisms of cosmic-ray production, none carries more information than the composition and energy distribution of the particles arriving in the solar system. The present volume is the work of many participants in a NATO Advanced Study Institute on "The Composition and Origin of Cosmic Rays" held from the 20th to the 30th of June, 1982 under the aus- pices of the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture. Par- ticipants came to the Centre in Erice, Sicily from eight countries. This Institute was also the third Course of the International School of Cosmic-Ray Astrophysics, which has been meeting bienni- ally 1n Erice. Of the two previous Courses, likewise sponsored by the Majorana Centre, the first (1978) provided a broad introduction to th~ field. It was entitled "Progress and Problems in Cosmic- Ray Physics." The second (1980) was devoted to "Acceleration of Particles in Nature." It treated mechanisms of acceleration, some candidate sites, and observational and theoretical constraints. Director of the Majorana Centre is Prof. Antonino Zichichi.

Spis treści

I. Composition and Energy Spectra.- to the Galactic Cosmic Radiation.- The Spectra of Cosmic-Ray Nuclei > 1 GeV/nuc — Implications for Acceleration and Propagation.- Significance of Ultraheavy Cosmic Rays.- Cosmic-Ray Isotopic Composition.- Cosmic-Ray Electrons and Positrons — A Review of Current Measurements and Some Implications.- Cosmic Ray Composition at 1012 – 1015eV Derived from Muon Measurements.- Antiprotons in the Cosmic Radiation.- Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays.- On the Origin of the Low-Energy Anomalous Component of Galactic Cosmic Rays.- Solar Energetic Particle Studies.- II. Acceleration, Propagation, and Sources of Cosmic Rays.- Cosmic Ray Acceleration Mechanisms.- Cosmic-Ray Acceleration by Diffusive Shocks: Cut-Off Energy.- Galactic Propagation of Cosmic Rays.- Cosmic-Ray Sources.- Sources of Extragalactic Cosmic Rays: Photons and Neutrinos as Probes.- Extragalactic Cosmic Rays, Active Galaxies and Quasi-Stellar Objects.- III. Muons and Neutrinos in Cosmic-Ray Physics and Astrophysics.- Deep Underwater Muon and Neutrino Detection (Dumand).- Future Muon and Neutrino Experiments.- IV. Techniques of Observation and Calculation.- Detectors of Ultraheavy Cosmic Rays.- The Bugs 4 Cosmic-Ray Detector.- A Detector to Investigate the Anomalous Component of Cosmic Rays and its Rarer Constituents Including a Possible Molecular Ion Component.- Complete Fragment Yields from Spallation Reactions via a Combined Time-of-Flight and ?E-E Technique.- Improvement of Calculations of Cross Sections and Cosmic Ray Propagation.- Matrix Methods of Cosmic Ray Propagation.- The Effect of Cross-Section Uncertainties on the Derivation of Source Abundances from Cosmic-Ray Composition Observations.- V. Related Topics in Cosmic-Ray Physics and Astrophysics.- Relativistic Particles and Gamma Rays in Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei.- Proton Decay and Neutrino Experiments in the Mount Blanc Tunnel.- The IMB Proton Decay Detector.- Effectiveness of Hze-Particles onto Different Biological Systems in the Biostack Experiments on Apollo 16, and 17 and on ASTP.- The Decay of “Mesotrons” (1939–1943) — Experimental Particle Physics in the Age of Innocence.- Author Index.