Thursday, March 22, 2007, 16:00
WHGA Auditorium
A. De Rujula, CERN
Abstract:
At the mature age of 94, the origin of (non-solar) Cosmic Rays is the
longest-lasting conundrum in astrophysics. I shall discuss a theory of
cosmic rays (CRs) based on a single "accelerator" at all energies. The
distribution of CRs in the Galaxy, their total luminosity, the broken
power-law spectra with their observed slopes, the position of the
"Knee(s)" and "Ankle", the shape and magnitude of the
"ultra-high-energy"CR flux, and the CR composition and its variation
with energy are all predicted in terms of very simple and completely
``standard" physics. The theory is very predictive: only one parameter
has to be fit to the rich ensemble of all the data. All other inputs are
`priors', that is theoretical or observational items of information
independent of the properties of the source of CRs and chosen to lie in
their pre-established ranges. The theory is also part on a "unified
view" of high-energy astrophysical phenomena, of which I shall mention a
few.