Cosmic-ray composition and its relation to shock acceleration by supernova remnants

Abstract

An overview is given on the present status of the understanding of the origin of galactic cosmic rays. Recent measurements of charged cosmic rays and photons are reviewed. Their impact on the contemporary knowledge about the sources and acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays and their propagation through the Galaxy is discussed. Possible reasons for the knee in the energy spectrum and scenarios for the end of the galactic cosmic-ray component are described.

Invited talk given at the 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly Beijing, China, 16 -- 23 July 2006 - submitted to Advances in Space Research - comments are welcome

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Supernova remnants: the X-ray perspective
• Cosmic Rays from the Knee to the Highest Energies
• Characterizing the non-thermal emission of Cas A
• IMAGINE: A comprehensive view of the interstellar medium, Galactic magnetic fields and cosmic rays
• The origin of galactic cosmic rays
• Measurement of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum above $10^{16}$ eV with the LOFAR Radboud Air Shower Array
• Muon Production in Relativistic Cosmic-Ray Interactions
• Cosmic ray protons in the energy range $10^{16}-10^{18.5}$ eV: stochastic gyroresonant acceleration in hypernova shocks?
• Astronomy with ultra high-energy particles
• Measurement of Radio Emission from Extensive Air Showers with LOPES
• An introduction to Cosmic Rays and Gamma-Ray Bursts, and to their simple understanding
• Experimental Efforts on Very High-Energy Cosmic Rays and their Interactions - Conference Summary