From Known to Unknown: Cosmic Ray Transitions from the Sun, the Galaxy, and Extra-Galactic Systems
The question of at which energy the transition from galactic to extra-galactic cosmic rays takes place has been a long-standing conundrum in cosmic ray physics. The sun stands out as the closest and clearest astrophysical accelerator of cosmic rays, while other objects within and beyond the galaxy r...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Universe |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/11/3/96 |
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| Summary: | The question of at which energy the transition from galactic to extra-galactic cosmic rays takes place has been a long-standing conundrum in cosmic ray physics. The sun stands out as the closest and clearest astrophysical accelerator of cosmic rays, while other objects within and beyond the galaxy remain enigmatic. It is probable that the cosmic ray spectrum and mass components from these celestial sources share similarities, offering a novel approach to study their origin. In this study, we perform joint analysis of spectra and mass in the energy range from MeV to 10 EeV, and find the following: (1) <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mfenced open="⟨" close="⟩"><mi>lnA</mi></mfenced></semantics></math></inline-formula> demonstrates three clear peaks, tagging component transition; (2) a critical variable <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mo>Δ</mo></semantics></math></inline-formula> is adopted to define the location of the transition; (3) for protons, the knee is located at ∼1.8 PeV, and the boundary between the galaxy and extra-galaxy occurs at ∼60 PeV, marked by a spectral dip; and (4) the all-particle spectrum exhibits hardening at ∼60 PeV due to the contribution of nearby galaxies, and the extra-galaxy dominates ∼0.8 EeV. We hope the LHAASO experiment can perform spectral measurements of individual species to validate these specific observations. |
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| ISSN: | 2218-1997 |