Department of Physics
Research, teaching and outreach in Physics at UW–Madison

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Organized by: Prof. Lu Lu

STUDIES OF GALACTIC COSMIC RAYS WITH DIRECT AND INDIRECT MEASUREMENTS
Date: Friday, June 16th
Time: 2:00 pm
Place: WIPAC (222 W Washington, 5th floor, Supernova Conference Room)
Speaker: Nahee Park, University of Chicago
Abstract: Cosmic rays, high energy particles originating from outside of the solar system, are believed to be dominated by particles from our Galaxy at least up to the energy of 1015 eV. Recent results from direct measurements of cosmic rays, including the rise of the positron flux, the hardening of the light nuclei, and the different spectral indexes of the proton and helium spectra, challenge the classical models of the Galactic cosmic rays. Meanwhile, the development of gamma-ray experiments has opened a new window to study the acceleration and propagation of high-energy particles in the vicinity of the source sites, such as supernova remnants.

I will introduce HELIX (High Energy Light Isotope eXperiment), a near-future balloon-borne experiment designed to improve our understanding of the propagation of Galactic cosmic rays by measuring the key clock isotope 10Be up to 10 GeV/n. I will also present the Galactic gamma-ray measurements from the VERITAS experiment, an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope measuring gamma rays with energies higher than 85 GeV and up to ~ 30 TeV. Focusing on the supernova remnants, I will discuss what we have learned about the acceleration of high-energy particles and what we expect to learn in the near future. Finally, I will highlight how neutrino observations with IceCube, in coordination with gamma-ray and cosmic-ray direct measurements, will broaden our perspective on the production and propagation of high-energy particles and advance us toward a new paradigm of Galactic cosmic rays.
Host: Westerhoff
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