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This book introduces you to the physics of cosmic rays, charged particles which reach us from known – and maybe unknown – sources in the cosmos. Starting from a brief history of this fascinating field, it reviews what we know about the creation of elements in the Big Bang and inside stars. It explains cosmic accelerators reaching fabulous energies. It follows the life cycle of cosmic rays all the way from their sources to detection near, on or below Earth. The central three chapters cover what we know about them at the level of the solar system, the Milky Way and the Universe at large. Up-to-date experimental results are presented in detail, showing how they are obtained and interpreted. The book provides an accessible overview of this lively and diversified research field. It will be of interest to undergraduate physics students beginning their studies on astronomy, cosmology, and particle physics. It is also accessible to the general public by concentrating mathematical and technical detail into Focus Boxes.Key features: Complete introductory overview of cosmic ray physics Covers the origins, acceleration, transport mechanisms and detection of these particles Mathematical and technical detail is kept separate from the main text

This revised edition provides an up-to-date summary of the field of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, dealing with their origin, propagation, and composition,. The authors reflect the enormous strides made since the first edition in the realm of experimental work, in particular the use of vastly improved, more sensitive and precise detectors. The level remains introductory and pedagogical, suitable for students and researchers interested in moving into this exciting field. Throughout the text, the authors focus on giving an introductory overview of the key physics issues, followed by a clear and concise description of experimental approaches and current results.Key Features: Updates the most coherent summary of the field available, with new text that provides the reader with clear historical context. Brand new discussion of contemporary space-based experiments and ideas for extending ground-based detectors. Completely new discussion of radio detection methods. Includes a new chapter on small to intermediate-scale anisotropy. Offers new sections on modern hadronic models and software packages to simulate showers.

This volume of the series Springer Briefs in Space Life Sciences explains the physics and biology of radiation in space, defines various forms of cosmic radiation and their dosimetry, and presents a range of exposure scenarios. It also discusses the effects of radiation on human health and describes the molecular mechanisms of heavy charged particles'deleterious effects in the body. Lastly, it discusses countermeasures and addresses the vital question: Are we ready for launch? Written for researchers in the space life sciences and space biomedicine, and for master's students in biology, physics, and medicine, the book will also benefit all non-experts endeavouring to understand and enter space.

This brief explores the biological effects of long-term radiation on astronauts in deep space. As missions progress beyond Earth's orbit and away from the protection of its magnetic shielding, astronauts risk constant exposure to higher levels of galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events. The text concisely addresses the full spectrum of biomedical consequences from exposure to space radiation and goes on to present possible ways to mitigate such dangers and protect astronauts within the limitations of existing technologies.

This monograph traces the development of our understanding of how and where energetic particles are accelerated in the heliosphere and how they may reach the Earth. Detailed data sets are presented which address these topics. The bulk of the observations are from spacecraft in or near the ecliptic plane. It is timely to present this subject now that Voyager-1 has entered the true interstellar medium. Since it seems unlikely that there will be a follow-on to the Voyager programme any time soon, the data we already have regarding the outer heliosphere are not going to be enhanced for at least 40 years.

Cosmogenic radionuclides are radioactive isotopes which are produced by natural processes and distributed within the Earth system. With a holistic view of the environment the authors show in this book how cosmogenic radionuclides can be used to trace and to reconstruct the history of a large variety of processes. They discuss the way in which cosmogenic radionuclides can assist in the quantification of complex processes in the present-day environment. The book aims to demonstrate to the reader the strength of analytic tools based on cosmogenic radionuclides, their contribution to almost any field of modern science, and how these tools may assist in the solution of many present and future problems that we face here on Earth. The book provides a comprehensive discussion of the basic principles behind the applications of cosmogenic (and other) radionuclides as environmental tracers and dating tools. The second section of the book discusses in some detail the production of radionuclides by cosmic radiation, their transport and distribution in the atmosphere and the hydrosphere, their storage in natural archives, and how they are measured. The third section of the book presents a number of examples selected to illustrate typical tracer and dating applications in a number of different spheres (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, solar physics and astronomy). At the same time the authors have outlined the limitations of the use of cosmogenic radionuclides. Written on a level understandable by graduate students without specialist skills in physics or mathematics, the book addresses a wide audience, ranging from archaeology, biophysics, and geophysics, to atmospheric physics, hydrology, astrophysics and space science.

If charged particles move through the interplanetary or interstellar medium, they interact with a large-scale magnetic?eld such as the magnetic?eld of the Sun or the Galactic magnetic?eld. As these background?elds are usually nearly constant in time and space, they can be approximated by a homogeneous?eld. If there are no additional?elds, the particle trajectory is a perfect helix along which the par- cle moves at a constant speed. In reality, however, there are turbulent electric and magnetic?elds dueto the interstellaror solar wind plasma. These?elds lead to sc- tering of the cosmic rays parallel and perpendicular to the background?eld. These scattering effects, which usually are of diffusive nature, can be described by s- tial diffusion coef?cients or, alternatively, by mean free paths. The knowledge of these parameters is essential for describing cosmic ray propagation as well as d- fusive shock acceleration. The latter process is responsible for the high cosmic ray energies that have been observed. The layout of this book is as follows. In Chap. 1, the general physical scenario is presented. We discuss fundamental processes such as cosmic ray propagation and acceleration in different systems such as the solar system or the interst- lar space. These processes are a consequence of the interaction between charged cosmic particles and an astrophysical plasma (turbulence). The properties of such plasmas are therefore the subject of Chap. 2.

xxii CONTENTS In 1957 I was invited to work on special problems in Magnetic Laboratory of the Academy of Sciences of USSR as a Head of Department of Magnetic Hydrodynamics. In few years this Laboratory was transfered into the I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, and I continued to work in this Institute up to 1965. In parallel I also worked at Moscow State University as Professor in the CR and Space Research Team. I also gave lectures in Irkutsk, Alma-Ata, Nalchik, Tbilisi, Erevan, Samarkand, and others places. Over about 40 years of teaching under my supervision more than hundred graduate students and scientists in USSR and some other countries gained their Ph. D. and several tenths became Doctors of Science. As my hobby I continued to work in CR research, and as Vice-President of All-Union Section of Cosmic Rays and Radiation Belts, took an active part in preparing the Soviet net of CR stations to the IGY (International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958): we equipped all soviet stations in USSR and in Antarctica with standard cubic and semi-cubic muon telescopes and with neutron monitors of IGY (or Simpson's) type. In connection with preparing for the IQSY (the International Quiet Sun Year, 1964-1965), the soviet net of CR stations was extended about two fold and they were equipped with neutron super-monitors of IQSY type (with an effective surface about 10 times bigger than the previous monitor of IGY type).

This book on high-energy cosmic rays deals in its first part with the standard model of cosmic rays, describing how they are born in a wide range of cosmic processes, how they are accelerated and how they interact with matter, magnetic fields and radiation during their journey across the Galaxy. In its second part the book presents contemporary challenges in very high energy cosmic rays, with focus on their detection in the Earth's atmosphere and underground, as well as new developments in gamma-ray and neutrino astronomy.A decade after the publication of the second edition of this book, there are many new experimental results in the fields of high energy neutrino astronomy and in the whole energy range of detection of gamma-rays. There have also been many attempts for studies for multi-messenger events in these and all other fields. These new experimental efforts and their results are covered in this third edition. This is accompanied by a general analysis of these new results and the additional knowledge that they bring to our understanding of cosmic rays and their propagation in our Galaxy and extragalactic space. A large part of the interpretation of these new findings is related to the development of the hadronic interaction models that we use to understand and describe the experimental results. The author describes the relation between the new high energy physics experiments and such models.In addition to the discussion of new research, descriptions and graphs of the previous edition have been updated where appropriate. The third edition ends with a discussion of some possible and already planned experiments for future observations and an explanation of their importance for the better understanding of all processes that lead to the increase of our knowledge of high energy cosmic rays.Students and lecturers of advanced undergraduate courses on cosmic rays and astroparticle physics as well as post-graduates and researchers will continue tofind this book a valuable source of learning and reference.