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Many experimental results around and above the energies where the solar modulation affects cosmic ion fluxes were quantified, conceptualized and debated using leaky box models. These models exploit the notion of equilibrium between creation and destruction processes of cosmic ions in an undifferentiated arbitrary volume representing the Galaxy, ignoring the galactic magnetic field, the size of the Galaxy, the position of the solar cavity, the spatial distribution of the sources, the space variation of the interstellar matter and other pertinent observations. Progress in the measurements of the quoted observational parameters rendes obsolete the use of the leaky box models. Specific examples substantiating the inadequacy of the leaky box models are analyzed such as the conversion of the boron-to-carbon flux ratio into grammage and the residence times of cosmic ions in the Galaxy. The unphysical and misleading nature of the leaky box models is ascertained and illustrated at very high energy., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

The differential intensity of cosmic radiation shows a sequence of depressions referred to as "knees" in a large energy band above 10^15 eV. The global depression entailed in the complete spectrum with respect to the extrapolated intensity based on low energy data amounts to a maximum factor of 8, occurring at 5 x 10^18 eV, where flux measurements exhibit a relative minimum, referred to as the "ankle". It is demonstrated by a full simulation of cosmic ray trajectories in the Galaxy that the intensity minimum around the ankle energy is primarily due to the nuclear interactions of the cosmic ions with the interstellar matter and to the galactic magnetic field. "Ankles" signal the onset energies of the rectilinear propagation in the Milky Way at the Earth, being for example, 4 x 10^18 eV for helium and 6 x 10^19 eV for iron. The ankle, in spite of its notable importance at the Earth, is a local perturbation of the universal spectrum which, between the knee and the ankle, decreases by a round factor 10^9, regaining its unperturbed status above 10^19 eV., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, contribution to the CRIS 2006 Conference

A new, unique mechanism accounting for the knee and the ankle in the energy spectrum of the cosmic radiation is presented. The interplay of the form and strength of the galactic magnetic field, the rising trend of the nuclear cross sections with energy, the position of the solar cavity within the Galaxy and disc size generates knees and ankles of individual ions. The influence of these observational data on the cosmic-ray intensity at Earth is determined by the appropriate simulation of the cosmic-ray trajectories in the galactic volume. The solid and extensive accord between the computed and measured energy spectra of individual ions and of all ions is discussed and emphasized., Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, to appear in Proceedings of Vulcano Conference 2006

The differential energy spectrum of cosmic rays exhibits a change of slope, called "knee" of the spectrum, around the nominal energy of 3 x 10^15 eV, and individual "knees" for single ions, at different energies. The present work reports a detailed account of the characteristics and the origin of the knees for Helium and Iron. Current observational data regarding the magnetic field, the insterstellar matter density, the size of the Galaxy and the galactic wind, are incorporated in appropriate algorithms which allow to simulate millions of cosmic-ion trajectories in the disk. Bundles of ion trajectories define galactic regions called basins utilized in the present analysis of the knees. The fundamental role of the nuclear cross sections in the origin of the helium and iron knees is demonstrated and highlighted. The results of the calculation are compared with the experimental data in the energy interval 10^12 eV - 5 x 10^17 eV. There is a fair agreement between the computed and measured energy spectra of Helium and Iron; rather surprisingly their relative intensities are also in accord with those computed here. The results suggest that acceleration mechanisms in the disk are extraneous to the origin of the "knees"., Comment: 42 pages, 24 figures, report