Description
Book SynopsisIn recent years, cosmic rays have become the protagonists of a new scientific revolution. We are able today to film the Universe with telescopes of completely novel conception, recording information from many different messengers and accessing previously unknown cosmic regions.
Written by a recognized authority in physics, this book takes readers on a captivating journey through the world of cosmic rays, their role in the revolutionary field of multi-messenger astronomy, their production from powerful accelerators close to the surfaces of black holes and compact objects, reaching the highest levels of energy observed in nature, and the implications this has for our understanding of the Universe. Through the stories of pioneering scientists, explorations of cutting-edge technologies, and simple explanations related to particle physics, quantum mechanics, and astrophysics, the book provides an illuminating state-of-the-art introduction to the current state of high-energy astrophysics. The book was written in straightforward yet rigorous language, so as to be accessible to the greater public. For those curious about the cosmos and cosmic gamma rays, nuclei, neutrinos, and gravitational waves, from casual observers to professional astronomers and physicists, the book is a must-read, offering a thrilling adventure into the future of astronomy and particle physics.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1 The Largest Energies in the Universe
1.1 The Universe around us
1.2 Particles and fields
1.3 Cosmic rays
2 The Mystery of Cosmic Rays
2.1 The discovery of natural radioactivity
2.2 Is natural radioactivity of extraterrestrial origin?
2.3 Father Wulf, a true experimental physicist
2.4 Pacini’s attenuation measures in water
2.5 Hess and balloon measurements
2.6 First developments and the tragedy of the first world war
3 Cosmic-Ray Research after the First World War
3.1 Research in Europe and the Pacini-Hess controversy
3.2 Research in the United States
3.3 Are cosmic rays predominantly charged or neutral?
3.4 Bruno Rossi and the discoveries after 1930
3.5 At the origins of elementary particle physics
3.6 The recognition of the scientific community
3.7 Hypothesis on the origin of cosmic rays: Tesla, Zwicky, Fermi
4 Cosmic Rays and the Physics of Elementary Particles
4.1 Leptons and mesons
4.2 The neutral pion
4.3 The discovery of strangeness
4.4 Laboratories on the mountains
4.5 Hunters become shepherds: particle accelerators
5 Fire Under the Ashes: the Discoveries at the End of the 20th Century and at the Beginning
of the 21st Century
5.1 Cosmic rays of very-high-energy
5.2 Anomalous events
5.3 X-rays
5.4 Neutrinos from the Sun and the cosmos
6 Cosmic Ray Research Today: Multi-Messenger Astrophysics
and the New Astronomy
6.1 Very-high-energy cosmic rays
6.2 Search for antimatter
6.3 Gamma rays
6.4 Cosmic neutrinos
6.5 Gravitational waves
6.6 Multi-messenger astronomy
7 Cosmic Rays and Climate
7.1 Cosmic rays and thunderstorms
7.2 Variations in the flux of cosmic rays
7.3 A correlation between cosmic rays and earthquakes?
8 Cosmic Rays and Life
8.1 Ionization and chemistry of the atmosphere
8.2 The Miller-Urey experiment
8.3 Biological effects of cosmic rays
8.4 Implications on evolution
9 Cosmic Rays and the Exploration of the Universe
10 Cosmic Rays and Archaeology
10.1 Dating techniques
10.2 Muon tomography
11 The Future
