arXiv subjects

Pasquale Blasi

Publications and source records attributed to Pasquale Blasi.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Galactic cosmic rays after the AMS-02 observations

The unprecedented quality of the data collected by the AMS-02 experiment onboard the International Space Station allowed us to address subtle questions concerning the origin and propagation of cosmic rays. Here we discuss the implications of these data for the injection spectrum of elements with different masses and for the diffusion coefficient probed by cosmic rays through their journey from the sources to the Earth. We find that the best fit to the spectra of primary and secondary nuclei requires (1) a break in the energy dependence of the diffusion coefficient at energies $\sim 300$ GV; (2) an injection spectrum that is the same for all nuclei heavier than helium, and different injections for both protons and helium. Moreover, if to force the injection spectrum of helium to be the same as for heavier nuclei, the fit to oxygen substantially worsens. Accounting for a small, $X_{s}\sim 0.4~\rm g~cm^{-2}$, grammage accumulated inside the sources leads to a somewhat better fit to the B/C ratio but makes the difference between He and other elements even more evident. The statistic and systematic error bars claimed by the AMS collaboration exceed the error that is expected from calculations once the uncertainties in the cross sections of production of secondary nuclei are taken into account. In order to make this point more quantitative, we present a novel parametrization of a large set of cross sections, relevant for cosmic ray physics, and we introduce the uncertainty in the branching ratios in a way that its effect can be easily grasped.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

The self-control of Cosmic Rays

Several independent pieces of information have recently hinted at a prominent role of cosmic rays in controlling their own transport, within and around the sources as well as throughout their propagation on Galactic scales and even possibly during their escape from the Galaxy. I will discuss this topic with special attention to the theoretical implications and possible additional observational evidence that we may seek with upcoming experiments.

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arXiv2019

Cosmic ray transport and radiative processes in nuclei of starburst galaxies

The high rate of star formation and supernova explosions of starburst galaxies make them interesting sources of high energy radiation. Depending upon the level of turbulence present in their interstellar medium, the bulk of cosmic rays produced inside starburst galaxies may lose most of their energy before escaping, thereby making these sources behave as calorimeters, at least up to some maximum energy. Contrary to previous studies, here we investigate in detail the conditions under which cosmic ray confinement may be effective for electrons and nuclei and we study the implications of cosmic ray confinement in terms of multifrequency emission from starburst nuclei and production of high energy neutrinos. The general predictions are then specialized to three cases of active starbursts, namely M82, NGC253 and Arp220. Both primary and secondary electrons, as well as electron-positron pairs produced by gamma ray absorption inside starburst galaxies are taken into account. Electrons and positrons produced as secondary products of hadronic interactions are found to be responsible for most of the emission of leptonic origin. In particular, synchrotron emission of very high energy secondary electrons produces an extended emission of hard X-rays that represent a very interesting signature of hadronic process in starburst galaxies, potentially accessible to current and future observations in the X-ray band. A careful understanding of both the production and absorption of gamma rays in starburst galaxies is instrumental to the assessment of the role of these astrophysical sources as sources of high energy astrophysical neutrinos.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Effects of reacceleration and source grammage on secondary cosmic rays spectra

The ratio between secondary and primary cosmic ray particles is the main source of information about cosmic ray propagation in the Galaxy. Primary cosmic rays are thought to be accelerated mainly in Supernova Remnant (SNR) shocks and then released in the interstellar medium (ISM). Here they produce secondary particles by occasional collisions with interstellar matter. As a result, the ratio between the fluxes of secondary and primary particles carries information about the amount of matter cosmic rays have encountered during their journey from their sources to Earth. Recent measurements by AMS-02 revealed an unexpected behaviour of two main secondary-to-primary ratios, the Boron-to-Carbon ratio and the anti-proton-to-proton ratio. In this work we discuss how such anomalies may reflect the action of two phenomena that are usually overlooked, namely the fact that some fraction of secondary particles can be produced within the acceleration region, and the non-negligible probability that secondary particles encounter an accelerator (and are reaccelerated) during propagation. Both effects must be taken into account in order to correctly extract information about CR transport from secondary-to-primary ratios.

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arXiv2018

Origin of the Cosmic Ray Galactic Halo Driven by Advected Turbulence and Self-Generated Waves

The diffusive paradigm for the transport of Galactic cosmic rays is central to our understanding of the origin of these high energy particles. However, it is worth recalling that the normalization, energy dependence, and spatial extent of the diffusion coefficient in the interstellar medium are fitted to the data and typically are not derived from more basic principles. Here, we discuss a scenario in which the diffusion properties of cosmic rays are derived from a combination of wave self-generation and advection from the Galactic disc, where the sources of cosmic rays are assumed to be located. We show for the first time that a halo naturally arises from these phenomena, with a size of a few kiloparsecs, compatible with the value that typically best fits observations in simple parametric approaches to cosmic ray diffusion. We also show that transport in such a halo results in a hardening in the spectra of primary cosmic rays at ~300 GV.

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arXiv2017

On the spectrum of stable secondary nuclei in cosmic rays

The ratio of the fluxes of secondary and primary nuclei in cosmic rays has long been used as an indicator of the grammage traversed in the journey of cosmic ray particles throughout the Galaxy. The basic idea is that primary particles are accelerated in astrophysical sources, such as supernova remnant shocks and eventually propagate in the Galactic volume, occasionally interacting with gas, mainly in the disc of the Galaxy, and there they produce secondary nuclei through spallation. At sufficiently high energy, typically $\gtrsim 100$ GeV/n, the ratio of fluxes of the secondary nucleus to that of the main primary nucleus is found to scale as $E_{k}^{-δ}$, where $E_{k}$ is the energy per nucleon (a conserved quantity in spallation reactions) and $δ$ identifies the energy dependence of the diffusion coefficient. The same shock waves that may be responsible for cosmic ray acceleration in the first place also pick up any other charged particle in the upstream, provided being above threshold for injection. The secondary nuclei produced by spallation in the interstellar medium are no exception, hence they also get accelerated. This effect is unavoidable, only its strength may be subject of debate. We compute the spectrum of secondary elements such as boron and lithium taking into account shock reacceleration and compare our predictions with the recent observations of the B/C ratio and preliminary measurements of the boron and lithium flux. Both these sets of data seem to confirm that reacceleration of secondary nuclei indeed plays an important role, thereby affecting the validity of those scaling rules that are often used in cosmic ray physics.

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arXiv2017

Cosmic Ray Transport in the Galaxy: a Review

The physics of energetic particle propagation in magnetised environments plays a crucial role in both the processes of acceleration and transport of cosmic rays. Recent theoretical developments in the field of cosmic ray research have been mainly in the direction of exploring non-linear aspects of the processes in which these particles are involved, namely the action of cosmic rays on the environment in which the transport and/or acceleration take place. When cosmic rays propagate outside of the acceleration region, such action is mainly in two forms: 1) they generate hydromagnetic waves, through streaming instabilities, leading to a dependence of the scattering properties of the medium on the spectrum and spatial distribution of the energetic particles, and 2) they exert a dynamical action on the plasma, which may cause the launching of cosmic ray driven Galactic winds. In this article we discuss these and other recent developments and how they compare with the bulk of new observations on the spectra of primary nuclei (mainly H and He) and secondary to primary ratios, such as the B/C ratio and the $\bar p$/ratio, and the positrons ratio $e^+/(e^-+e^+)$. We also comment on some radically new models of the origin of CRs, in which the physical meaning of the secondary to primary ratios is not the same as in the standard model.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Charged particle diffusion in isotropic random magnetic fields

The investigation of the diffusive transport of charged particles in a turbulent magnetic field remains a subject of considerable interest. Research has most frequently concentrated on determining the diffusion coefficient in the presence of a mean magnetic field. Here we consider diffusion of charged particles in fully three-dimensional isotropic turbulent magnetic fields with no mean field, which may be pertinent to many astrophysical situations. We identify different ranges of particle energy depending upon the ratio of the Larmor radius of the charged particle to the characteristic outer length scale of the turbulence. Two different theoretical models are proposed to calculate the diffusion coefficient, each applicable to a distinct range of particle energies. The theoretical results are compared with those from computer simulations, showing good agreement.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2016

Grammage of cosmic rays around Galactic supernova remnants

The residence time of cosmic rays (CRs) in the Galaxy is usually inferred from the measurement of the ratio of secondary-to-primary nuclei, such as the boron (B)/carbon (C) ratio, which provides an estimate of the amount of matter traversed by CRs during their propagation, the so called CR grammage. However, after being released by their parent sources, for instance supernova remnants (SNRs), CRs must cross the disc of the Galaxy, before entering the much lower density halo, in which they are believed to spend most of the time before eventually escaping the Galaxy. In the near-source region, the CR propagation is shown to be dominated by the non-linear self-generation of waves. Here we show that due to this effect, the time that CRs with energies up to $\sim$ 10 TeV spend within a distance $L_{c}\sim 100$ pc from the sources is much larger than naive estimates would suggest. The corresponding grammage is close to current estimates of the total grammage traversed throughout the whole Galaxy. Moreover, there is an irreducible grammage that CRs traverse while trapped downstream of the shock that accelerated them, though this contribution is rather uncertain. We conclude that at energies $\lesssim 1$ TeV, the observed grammage is heavily affected by the near-source non-linear trapping of CRs, and at energies $\gtrsim 1$ TeV it is affected by the source grammage. As a result, the measurement of the B/C ratio should be used very cautiously as an indicator of the propagation of CRs on large Galactic scales.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

The supernova remnant W44: a case of cosmic-Ray reacceleration

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are thought to be the primary sources of Galactic Cosmic Rays (CRs). In the last few years, the wealth of gamma-ray data collected by GeV and TeV instruments has provided important information about particle energisation in these astrophysical sources, allowing us to make progress in assessing their role as CR accelerators. In particular, the spectrum of the gamma-ray emission detected by AGILE and Fermi-LAT from the two middle aged Supernova Remnants (SNRs) W44 and IC443, has been proposed as a proof of CR acceleration in SNRs. Here we discuss the possibility that the radio and gamma-ray spectra from W44 may be explained in terms of re-acceleration and compression of Galactic CRs. The recent measurement of the interstellar CR flux by Voyager I has been instrumental for our work, in that the result of the reprocessing of CRs by the shock in W44 depends on the CR spectrum at energies that are precluded to terrestrial measurement due to solar modulation. We introduce both CR protons and helium nuclei in our calculations, and secondary electrons produced in situ are compared with the flux of Galactic CR electrons reprocessed by the slow shock of this SNR.We find that the multi-wavelength spectrum of W44 can be explained by reaccelerated particles with no need of imposing any break on their distribution, but just a high energy cut-off at the maximum energy the accelerator can provide.We also find that a model including both re-acceleration and a very small fraction of freshly accelerated particles may be more satisfactory on physical grounds

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

On the cosmic ray spectrum from type II Supernovae

One of the most important challenges for the largely accepted idea that Galactic CRs are accelerated in SNR shocks is the maximum energy at which particles can be accelerated. The resonant streaming instability, long invoked for magnetic field amplification at shocks, can not provide sufficiently high fields and efficient enough scattering so as to ensure particle acceleration up to the knee. Here we discuss the non-resonant version of this instability which, with its faster growth and larger value of the amplified field, increases the achievable maximum energy. Because of their higher explosion rate, we focus on type II SNe expanding in their red supergiant wind and we find that the transition between Ejecta Dominated (ED) and Sedov-Taylor (ST) phases takes place at very early times. In this environment, the accelerated particle spectrum shows no high energy exponential cut-off but a spectral break at the maximum energy (EM). Moreover, the maximum energy of protons can easily reach PeV energies. With this model, we tried to fit KASCADE Grande and ARGO -YBJ data but failed to find a parameter combination that can explain both data sets. We discuss the different scenarios implied by the two data sets.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

The fate of ultrahigh energy nuclei in the immediate environment of young fast-rotating pulsars

Young, fast-rotating neutron stars are promising candidate sources for the production of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The interest in this model has recently been boosted by the latest chemical composition measurements of cosmic rays, that seem to show the presence of a heavy nuclear component at the highest energies. Neutrons stars, with their metal-rich surfaces, are potentially interesting sources of such nuclei, but some open issues remain: 1) is it possible to extract these nuclei from the star's surface? 2) Do the nuclei survive the severe conditions present in the magnetosphere of the neutron star? 3) What happens to the surviving nuclei once they enter the wind that is launched outside the light cylinder? In this paper we address these issues in a quantitative way, proving that for the most reasonable range of neutron star surface temperatures ($T<10^7\,$K), a large fraction of heavy nuclei survive photo-disintegration losses. These processes, together with curvature losses and acceleration in the star's electric potential, lead to injection of nuclei with a chemical composition that is mixed, even if only iron is extracted from the surface. We show that under certain conditions the chemical composition injected into the wind region is compatible with that required in previous work based on purely phenomenological arguments (typically $\sim 50\%$ protons, $\sim 30\%$ CNO and $\sim 20\%$ Fe), and provides a reasonable explanation of the mass abundance inferred from ultra high energy data.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Non-linear cosmic ray Galactic transport in the light of AMS-02 and Voyager data

Context: Features in the spectra of primary cosmic rays (CRs) provide invaluable information on the propagation of these particles in the Galaxy. In the rigidity region around a few hundred GV, such features have been measured in the proton and helium spectra by the PAMELA experiment and later confirmed with a higher significance by AMS-02. We investigate the implications of these datasets for the scenario in which CRs propagate under the action of self-generated waves. Aims: We show that the recent data on the spectrum of protons and helium nuclei as collected with AMS-02 and Voyager are in very good agreement with the predictions of a model in which the transport of Galactic CRs is regulated by self-generated waves. We also study the implications of the scenario for the boron-to-carbon ratio: although a good overall agreement is found, at high energy we find marginal support for a (quasi) energy independent contribution to the grammage, that we argue may come from the sources themselves Results: A break in the spectra of all nuclei is found at rigidity of a few hundred GV, as a result of a transition from self-generated waves to pre-existing waves with a Kolmogorov power spectrum. Neither the slope of the diffusion coefficient, nor its normalisation are free parameters. Moreover, at rigidities below a few GV, CRs are predicted to be advected with the self-generated waves at the local Alfvén speed. This effect, predicted in our previous work, provides an excellent fit to the Voyager data on the proton and helium spectra at low energies, providing additional support to the model.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

On the cosmic ray spectrum from type II Supernovae expanding in their red giant presupernova wind

While from the energetic point of view SNRs are viable sources of Galactic CRs, the issue of whether they can accelerate protons up to PeV remains unsolved. Here we discuss particle acceleration at the forward shock of SN and discuss the possibility that the escaping particle current may excite a non-resonant instability that in turn leads to the formation of resonant modes confining particles close to the shock and increasing the maximum energy. This mechanism works throughout the expansion of the SN explosion, from the ejecta dominated (ED) to the Sedov-Taylor (ST) phase. Because of their higher explosion rate,we focus on type II SNae expanding in the slow, dense red supergiant wind. When the explosion occurs in such winds, the transition between the ED and the ST phase is likely to take place within a few tens of years. As a result, the spectrum of accelerated particles shows a break in the slope, at the maximum energy (Em) achieved at the beginning of the ST phase. Above this energy, the spectrum becomes steeper but remains a power law than developing an exponential cutoff. We show that for type II SNae typical parameters, proton Em can easily reach PeV energies, confirming that type II SNRs are the best candidate sources for CRs at the knee. We have tried to fit KASCADE-Grande, ARGO -YBJ and YAC1-Tibet Array data with our model but we could not find any parameter combination that could explain all data sets. Indeed the recent measurement of the proton and helium spectra in the knee region, with the ARGO-YBJ and YAC1-Tibet Array, has made the situation very confused. These measurements suggest that the knee in the light component is at 650 TeV, appreciably below the overall spectrum knee. This finding would resolve the problem of reaching very high energies in SNae, but, on the other hand, it would open a critical issue in the transition region between Galactic and extragalactic CRs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Origin of very high and ultra high energy cosmic rays

While there is some level of consensus on a Galactic origin of cosmic rays up to the knee ($E_{k}\sim 3\times 10^{15}$ eV) and on an extragalactic origin of cosmic rays with energy above $\sim 10^{19}$ eV, the debate on the genesis of cosmic rays in the intermediate energy region has received much less attention, mainly because of the ambiguity intrinsic in defining such a region. The energy range between $10^{17}$ eV and $\sim 10^{19}$ eV is likely to be the place where the transition from Galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays takes place. Hence the origin of these particles, though being of the highest importance from the physics point of view, it is also one of the most difficult aspects to investigate. Here I will illustrate some ideas concerning the sites of acceleration of these particles and the questions that their investigation may help answer, including the origin of \underline{ultra} high energy cosmic rays.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

The Origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays

One century ago Viktor Hess carried out several balloon flights that led him to conclude that the penetrating radiation responsible for the discharge of electroscopes was of extraterrestrial origin. One century from the discovery of this phenomenon seems to be a good time to stop and think about what we have understood about Cosmic Rays. The aim of this review is to illustrate the ideas that have been and are being explored in order to account for the observable quantities related to cosmic rays and to summarize the numerous new pieces of observation that are becoming available. In fact, despite the possible impression that development in this field is somewhat slow, the rate of new discoveries in the last decade or so has been impressive, and mainly driven by beautiful pieces of observation. At the same time scientists in this field have been able to propose new, fascinating ways to investigate particle acceleration inside the sources, making use of multifrequency observations that range from the radio, to the optical, to X-rays and gamma rays. These ideas can now be confronted with data. I will mostly focus on supernova remnants as the most plausible sources of Galactic cosmic rays, and I will review the main aspects of the modern theory of diffusive particle acceleration at supernova remnant shocks, with special attention for the dynamical reaction of accelerated particles on the shock and the phenomenon of magnetic field amplification at the shock. Cosmic ray escape from the sources is discussed as a necessary step to determine the spectrum of cosmic rays at the Earth. In the end of this review I will also discuss the phenomenon of cosmic ray acceleration at shocks propagating in partially ionized media and the implications of this phenomenon in terms of width of the Balmer line emission.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Recent results in cosmic ray physics and their interpretation

The last decade has been dense with new developments in the search for the sources of Galactic cosmic rays. Some of these developments have confirmed the tight connection between cosmic rays and supernovae in our Galaxy, through the detection of gamma rays and the observation of thin non-thermal X-ray rims in supernova remnants. Some other, such as the detection of features in the spectra of some chemicals opened new questions on the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy and on details of the acceleration process. Here I will summarize some of these developments and their implications for our understanding of the origin of cosmic rays. I will also discuss some new avenues that are being pursued in testing the supernova origin of Galactic cosmic rays.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

XIPE: the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer

X-ray polarimetry, sometimes alone, and sometimes coupled to spectral and temporal variability measurements and to imaging, allows a wealth of physical phenomena in astrophysics to be studied. X-ray polarimetry investigates the acceleration process, for example, including those typical of magnetic reconnection in solar flares, but also emission in the strong magnetic fields of neutron stars and white dwarfs. It detects scattering in asymmetric structures such as accretion disks and columns, and in the so-called molecular torus and ionization cones. In addition, it allows fundamental physics in regimes of gravity and of magnetic field intensity not accessible to experiments on the Earth to be probed. Finally, models that describe fundamental interactions (e.g. quantum gravity and the extension of the Standard Model) can be tested. We describe in this paper the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer (XIPE), proposed in June 2012 to the first ESA call for a small mission with a launch in 2017 but not selected. XIPE is composed of two out of the three existing JET-X telescopes with two Gas Pixel Detectors (GPD) filled with a He-DME mixture at their focus and two additional GPDs filled with pressurized Ar-DME facing the sun. The Minimum Detectable Polarization is 14 % at 1 mCrab in 10E5 s (2-10 keV) and 0.6 % for an X10 class flare. The Half Energy Width, measured at PANTER X-ray test facility (MPE, Germany) with JET-X optics is 24 arcsec. XIPE takes advantage of a low-earth equatorial orbit with Malindi as down-link station and of a Mission Operation Center (MOC) at INPE (Brazil).

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