Studies of the Highest Energy Particles in Nature

现代天体物理学最大的谜团之一是最高能量宇宙射线的起源。虽然罕见，但这些亚原子粒子拥有巨大的能量，比我们在人造加速器中给予质子的能量大1亿倍。理论努力确定宇宙射线加速机制，但这些粒子确实存在。这个项目将资助我们参与世界上最大的宇宙射线观测站，我们的目标是利用入射粒子的特征（质量、能量和到达方向）来确定自然界中已知的最有能量粒子的可能来源。

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.