High-energy cosmic ray interactions.

Research into hadronic interactions and high-energy cosmic rays are closely related. On one hand—due to the indirect observation of cosmic rays through air showers—the understanding of hadronic multiparticle production is needed for deriving the flux and composition of cosmic rays at high energy. On the other hand the highest energy particles from the universe allow us to study the characteristics of hadronic interactions at energies far beyond the reach of terrestrial accelerators. This is the summary of three introductory lectures on our current understanding of hadronic interactions of cosmic rays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]