Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays

Abstract

In this report we review the important progress made in recent years towards understanding the experimental data on ultra-high-energy ($E\gtrsim 10^9$ GeV) cosmic rays. We begin with a general survey of the available data, including a description of the energy spectrum, the nuclear composition, and the distribution of arrival directions. At this point we also give a synopsis of experimental techniques. After that, we introduce the fundamentals of cosmic ray acceleration and energy loss during propagation, with a view of discussing the conjectured nearby sources. Next, we survey the state of the art regarding the high- and ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrinos which may be produced in association with the observed cosmic rays. These neutrinos could constitute key messengers identifying currently unknown cosmic accelerators, possibly in the distant universe, because their propagation is not influenced by background photon or magnetic fields. Subsequently, we summarize the phenomenology of cosmic ray air showers. We describe the hadronic interaction models used to extrapolate results from collider data to ultra-high energies and the main electromagnetic processes that govern the longitudinal shower evolution. Armed with these two principal shower ingredients and motivation from the underlying physics, we describe the different methods proposed to distinguish the primary particle species. In the end, we explore how ultra-high-energy cosmic rays can be used as probes of beyond standard model physics models.

Matching version accepted for publication in Physics Reports. This article builds upon the content of arXiv:hep-ph/0206072, arXiv:astro-ph/0402371, arXiv:hep-ph/0407020, arXiv:1104.0509, arXiv:1307.5312, arXiv:1505.02153, arXiv:1709.07321, arXiv:1801.06160, and arXiv:1801.07170

References in corpus (112)

• GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral
• Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
• Gravitational Waves and Gamma-rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Data Processing, Sky Maps, and Basic Results
• Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the Optical Counterpart to a Gravitational Wave Source
• Neutrino emission from the direction of the blazar TXS 0506+056 prior to the IceCube-170922A alert
• Spectroscopic identification of r-process nucleosynthesis in a double neutron star merger
• Cosmic Reionization and Early Star-Forming Galaxies: A Joint Analysis of New Constraints from Planck and Hubble Space Telescope
• The X-ray counterpart to the gravitational wave event GW 170817
• The spectrum of isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission between 100 MeV and 820 GeV
• Illuminating Gravitational Waves: A Concordant Picture of Photons from a Neutron Star Merger
• The Emergence of a Lanthanide-Rich Kilonova Following the Merger of Two Neutron Stars
• Optical emission from a kilonova following a gravitational-wave-detected neutron-star merger
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Dark Energy Camera Discovery of the Optical Counterpart
• A Radio Counterpart to a Neutron Star Merger
• The Spectrum of the Isotropic Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission Derived From First-Year Fermi Large Area Telescope Data
• Observation and Characterization of a Cosmic Muon Neutrino Flux from the Northern Hemisphere using six years of IceCube data
• Fermi Large Area Telescope Bright Gamma-ray Source List
• The discovery of the electromagnetic counterpart of GW170817: kilonova AT 2017gfo/DLT17ck
• Bright AGN Source List from the First Three Months of the Fermi Large Area Telescope All-Sky Survey
• Depth of Maximum of Air-Shower Profiles at the Pierre Auger Observatory: Measurements at Energies above 10^17.8 eV
• Measured Metallicities at the Sites of Nearby Broad-Lined Type Ic Supernovae and Implications for the SN-GRB Connection
• Indications of Intermediate-Scale Anisotropy of Cosmic Rays with Energy Greater Than 57 EeV in the Northern Sky Measured with the Surface Detector of the Telescope Array Experiment
• Cosmic-Ray Proton and Helium Spectra from the First CREAM Flight
• Atmospheric and Astrophysical Neutrinos above 1 TeV Interacting in IceCube
• Gravitational-Wave Stochastic Background from Kinks and Cusps on Cosmic Strings
• A connection between star formation activity and cosmic rays in the starburst galaxy M 82
• The contribution of Fermi-2LAC blazars to the diffuse TeV-PeV neutrino flux
• Measurement of the proton-air cross-section at $\sqrt{s}=57$ TeV with the Pierre Auger Observatory
• The Cosmic Ray Energy Spectrum Observed with the Surface Detector of the Telescope Array Experiment
• MASTER optical detection of the first LIGO/Virgo neutron stars merging GW170817
• Indication of anisotropy in arrival directions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays through comparison to the flux pattern of extragalactic gamma-ray sources
• Cosmogenic Neutrinos: parameter space and detectabilty from PeV to ZeV
• Fermi Gamma-ray Imaging of a Radio Galaxy
• Testing Hadronic Interactions at Ultrahigh Energies with Air Showers Measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory
• GZK Neutrinos after the Fermi-LAT Diffuse Photon Flux Measurement
• Magnetic Fields in Starburst Galaxies and The Origin of the FIR-Radio Correlation
• A Deep Chandra X-ray Study of Neutron Star Coalescence GW170817
• Study of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray Composition Using Telescope Array's Middle Drum Detector and Surface Array in Hybrid Mode
• Constraining the Galaxy's dark halo with RAVE stars
• Flavor Ratio of Astrophysical Neutrinos above 35 TeV in IceCube
• Search for High-energy Neutrinos from Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 with ANTARES, IceCube, and the Pierre Auger Observatory
• The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Detector Design, Performance, and Sensitivity for 2006-2007 Balloon Flight
• Giant AGN Flares and Cosmic Ray Bursts
• Hadronic Multiparticle Production at Ultra-High Energies and Extensive Air Showers
• Constraints on Galactic Neutrino Emission with Seven Years of IceCube Data
• Large-scale cosmic-ray anisotropies above 4 EeV measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Cosmic rays and the magnetic field of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253
• Lorentz Violation for Photons and Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
• Evidence for a mixed mass composition at the `ankle' in the cosmic-ray spectrum
• The Diverse Properties of the Most Ultraviolet Luminous Galaxies Discovered by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer
• Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays from Black Hole Jets of Radio Galaxies
• High-energy Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos from Semi-relativistic Hypernovae
• Vetoing atmospheric neutrinos in a high energy neutrino telescope
• Anisotropy vs chemical composition at ultra-high energies
• Opening a New Window onto the Universe with IceCube
• Weighing the local dark matter with RAVE red clump stars
• Low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts as the sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray nuclei
• Spectral analysis of the high-energy IceCube neutrinos
• On the flavor composition of the high-energy neutrino events in IceCube
• A generalized self-veto probability for atmospheric neutrinos
• Constraints on the diffuse high-energy neutrino flux from the third flight of ANITA
• Warm Molecular Hydrogen in the Galactic Wind of M82
• Searches for Large-Scale Anisotropy in the Arrival Directions of Cosmic Rays Detected above Energy of $10^{19}$ eV at the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array
• Propagation of high-energy cosmic rays in extragalactic turbulent magnetic fields: resulting energy spectrum and composition
• Astrophysical Sources of High Energy Neutrinos in the IceCube Era
• Lorentz Violation and Ultrahigh-Energy Photons
• Search for Point-Like Sources of Ultra-High Energy Neutrinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory and Improved Limit on the Diffuse Flux of Tau Neutrinos
• What IceCube data tell us about neutrino emission from star-forming galaxies (so far)
• Study of muons from ultra-high energy cosmic ray air showers measured with the Telescope Array experiment
• Searching for New Physics with Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays
• Acceleration of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays in starburst superwinds
• First ground based measurement of atmospheric Cherenkov light from cosmic rays
• Acceleration of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays in the Colliding Shells of Blazars and GRBs: Constraints from the Fermi Gamma ray Space Telescope
• Fornax A, Centaurus A and other radio galaxies as sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays
• Observations of the Li, Be, and B isotopes and constraints on cosmic-ray propagation
• A Deep Chandra ACIS Survey of M83
• TeV gamma-rays and neutrinos from photo-disintegration of nuclei in Cygnus OB2
• UHECR escape mechanisms for protons and neutrons from GRBs, and the cosmic ray-neutrino connection
• Ultrahigh Energy Neutrinos at the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Testing a reported correlation between arrival directions of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and a flux pattern from nearby starburst galaxies using Telescope Array data
• Discovery of GeV emission from the direction of the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 2146
• Ultrahigh-energy neutrino follow-up of Gravitational Wave events GW150914 and GW151226 with the Pierre Auger Observatory
• The Compton-Getting effect on ultra-high energy cosmic rays of cosmological origin
• Cosmic ray acceleration at perpendicular shocks in supernova remnants
• Upgoing ANITA events as evidence of the CPT symmetric universe
• Multi-messenger gamma-ray counterpart of the IceCube neutrino signal
• Lorentz Invariance Violation and Chemical Composition of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
• Self-Regulated Fueling of Galaxy Centers: Evidence for Star-Formation Feedback in IC342's Nucleus
• Expected neutrino fluence from short Gamma-Ray Burst 170817A and off-axis angle constraints
• On the measurement of the proton-air cross section using air shower data
• TeV gamma-rays from photo-disintegration/de-excitation of cosmic-ray nuclei
• Cosmic Ray Acceleration by a Versatile Family of Galactic Wind Termination Shocks
• Implications of gamma-ray observations on proton models of UHECR
• Search for Cosmic Strings in the COSMOS Survey
• Estimating the contribution of Galactic sources to the diffuse neutrino flux
• Neutron β-decay as the origin of IceCube's PeV (anti)neutrinos
• The Propagation of Cosmic Rays from the Galactic Wind Termination Shock: Back to the Galaxy?
• The extragalactic ultra-high energy cosmic-ray dipole
• Analytic Solutions of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray Nuclei Revisited
• Origin of the light cosmic ray component below the ankle
• Ultra-high Energy Predictions of proton-air Cross Sections from Accelerator Data
• Neutrino lighthouse powered by Sagittarius A* disk dynamo
• Testing hadronic interaction packages at cosmic ray energies
• Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Ray Composition from the Distribution of Arrival Directions
• Kolmogorov-Smirnov test as a tool to study the distribution of ultra-high energy cosmic ray sources
• Measurements and implications of cosmic ray anisotropies from TeV to trans-EeV energies
• The photo-disintegration of ${}^4$He on the cosmic microwave background is less severe than earlier thought
• Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays from nearby starburst galaxies
• The Fortuitous Latitude of the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array for Reconstructing the Quadrupole Moment
• Measurements of cosmic-ray energy spectra with the 2nd CREAM flight
• Can we reconcile the TA excess and hotspot with Auger observations?

Cited by in corpus (98)

• IceCube-Gen2: The Window to the Extreme Universe
• The Forward Physics Facility: Sites, Experiments, and Physics Potential
• Grand Unified Neutrino Spectrum at Earth: Sources and Spectral Components
• The Muon Puzzle in cosmic-ray induced air showers and its connection to the Large Hadron Collider
• The Dark Dimension and the Swampland
• Superradiance evolution of black hole shadows revisited
• Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays: The Intersection of the Cosmic and Energy Frontiers
• The Gamma-Ray Window to Intergalactic Magnetism
• Snowmass White Paper: Beyond the Standard Model effects on Neutrino Flavor
• POEMMA's Target of Opportunity Sensitivity to Cosmic Neutrino Transient Sources
• Evolution of black hole shadow in the presence of ultralight bosons
• Tau Neutrinos in the Next Decade: from GeV to EeV
• Analytical Solution of Magnetically Dominated Astrophysical Jets and Winds: Jet Launching, Acceleration, and Collimation
• Hunting for super-heavy dark matter with the highest-energy cosmic rays
• Ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray nuclei and neutrinos from engine-driven supernovae
• Cosmology Intertwined: A Review of the Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Associated with the Cosmological Tensions and Anomalies
• An explanation of the muon puzzle of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and the role of the Forward Physics Facility for model improvement
• Supersymmetric sphaleron configurations as the origin of the perplexing ANITA events
• The Spectra of IceCube Neutrino (SIN) candidate sources -- II. Source Characterisation
• Revisiting ultrahigh-energy constraints on decaying super-heavy dark matter
• Performance and science reach of POEMMA for ultrahigh-energy particles
• Hunting super-heavy dark matter with ultra-high energy photons
• Cosmogenic Neutrinos Through the GRAND Lens Unveil the Nature of Cosmic Accelerators
• Probing New Physics at Future Tau Neutrino Telescopes
• Are starburst galaxies a common source of high energy neutrinos and cosmic rays?
• Using High-Energy Neutrinos As Cosmic Magnetometers
• Curious case of the maximum rigidity distribution of cosmic-ray accelerators
• Active Galactic Nuclei as potential Sources of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
• The dark dimension, the Swampland, and the origin of cosmic rays beyond the GZK barrier
• Limits to gauge coupling in the dark sector set by the non-observation of instanton-induced decay of Super-Heavy Dark Matter in the Pierre Auger Observatory data
• Deep learning techniques applied to the physics of extensive air showers
• Modeling the spectrum and composition of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays with two populations of extragalactic sources
• Dissecting the broadband emission from γ-ray blazar PKS 0735+178 in search of neutrinos
• Through the Looking-Glass with ALICE into the Quark-Gluon Plasma: A New Test for Hadronic Interaction Models Used in Air Shower Simulations
• Testing CIBER cosmic infrared background measurements and axionlike particles with observations of TeV blazars
• High-Energy and Ultra-High-Energy Neutrinos from Primordial Black Holes
• Energetics of ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray nuclei
• The POEMMA (Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics) Observatory
• Neutrino propagation in the Earth and emerging charged leptons with $\text{nuPyProp}$
• Science and Project Planning for the Forward Physics Facility in Preparation for the 2024-2026 European Particle Physics Strategy Update
• Nuclear and electromagnetic cascades induced by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays in radio galaxies: implications for Centaurus A
• Charm contribution to ultrahigh-energy neutrinos from newborn magnetars
• Anomalous ANITA air shower events and tau decays
• Near-future discovery of point sources of ultra-high-energy neutrinos
• Bump-hunting in the diffuse flux of high-energy cosmic neutrinos
• Galactic Magnetic Field Bias on Inferences from UHECR Data
• Superheavy dark matter from the natural inflation in light of the highest-energy astroparticle events
• Two Micron-Size Dark Dimensions
• On the synthesis of heavy nuclei in protomagnetar outflows and implications for ultra-high energy cosmic rays
• Probing the Dark Dimension with Auger data
• Probing strong dynamics with cosmic neutrinos
• 2022 report from the Auger-TA working group on UHECR arrival directions
• Exploring the superwind mechanism for generating ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays using large-scale modeling of starbursts
• Systematic exploration of heavy element nucleosynthesis in protomagnetar outflows
• Deflection of charged signals in a dipole magnetic field in Schwarzschild background using Gauss-Bonnet theorem
• A Novel Model for the MeV Emission Line in GRB 221009A
• The flavor composition of ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrinos: measurement forecasts for in-ice radio-based EeV neutrino telescopes
• Oscillations of sterile neutrinos from dark matter decay eliminates the IceCube-Fermi tension
• Predictions for the flux of high-energy cosmogenic neutrinos and the influence of the extragalactic magnetic field
• Acceleration of ultra-high energy cosmic rays in the early afterglows of gamma-ray bursts: concurrence of jet's dynamics and wave-particle interactions
• Beyond first light: Global monitoring for high-energy neutrino astronomy
• A gamma-ray study of galactic PeVatron candidates LHAASO J1825-1326 and LHAASO J1839-0545
• Learning the Composition of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
• Two-detector flavor sensitivity to ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrinos
• Impact of the finite life-time of UHECR sources
• Gamma-ray counterparts of 2WHSP high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lac objects as possible signatures of ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray emission
• Using Circular Polarisation to Test the Composition and Dynamics of Astrophysical Particle Accelerators
• Acceleration of charged particles from near-extremal rotating black holes embedded in magnetic fields
• Before spacetime: A proposal of a framework for multiverse quantum cosmology based on three cosmological conjectures
• Cosmic Clues from Amaterasu: Blazar-Driven Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Rays?
• Probing new physics with high-multiplicity events: UHE neutrinos at air-shower detector arrays
• Inferring astrophysical neutrino sources from the Glashow resonance
• Fermi acceleration under Lorentz invariance violation
• Effects of large-scale magnetic fields on the observed composition of ultra high-energy cosmic rays
• Cosmogenic Origin of KM3-230213A: Delayed Gamma-Ray Emission from A Cosmic-Ray Transient
• Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and neutrino flux models
• Looking forward to forward physics at the CERN's LHC
• Towards the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND): the GRANDProto300 and GRAND@Auger prototypes
• Observational strategies for ultrahigh-energy neutrinos: the importance of deep sensitivity for detection and astronomy
• Indirect dark matter searches at ultrahigh energy neutrino detectors
• Constraints on superheavy dark matter decaying into $h\nu$, $Z\nu$ and $W\ell$ -- Benchmark example within an extended seesaw framework
• Massive Star Clusters as sources of high-energy gamma radiation
• Photon emission by an electron in a constant background field modeling a Lorentz-noninvariant vacuum
• The Forward Physics Facility at the High-Luminosity LHC
• Listening for ultra-heavy dark matter with underwater acoustic detectors
• Prospects for macroscopic dark matter detection at space-based and suborbital experiments
• An isotropic full-sky sample of optically selected blazars
• Letter of Intent: The Forward Physics Facility
• Effects of galactic magnetic field on the UHECR correlation studies with starburst galaxies
• Neutrino anisotropy as a probe of extreme astrophysical accelerators
• Amaterasu Cosmic Ray as Possible Support for Electromagnetic Acceleration
• UHECRs Propagation and their Multimessengers: Upper limits and the Impact of the Extragalactic Magnetic Field
• Hadronic origin of gamma rays and neutrinos from blazars: Multi-messenger implications and observational constraints
• Breaking Free from the Swampland of Impossible Universes through the DESI Portal
• Electric dipole strength in $sd$-shell nuclei from small-angle proton scattering
• Necessary Conditions for Earthly Life Floating in the Venusian Atmosphere
• gSeaGen code by KM3NeT: an efficient tool to propagate muons simulated with CORSIKA
• Beyond the Local Void: A data-driven search for the origins of the Amaterasu particle