Studies of the Highest Energy Particles in Nature

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

One of the greatest mysteries of modern astrophysics is the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays. While rare, these subatomic particles possess enormous energies, some 100 million times larger than we can impart to a proton in man-made accelerators. Theory struggles to identify cosmic ray acceleration mechanisms, but these particles do exist. This project will fund our participation in the world's largest cosmic ray observatories, and our aim is to use the characteristics of the incoming particles (mass, energy and arrival directions) to determine the likely sources of the most energetic particles known in Nature.