This radiation is a flux of the nuclei of chemical elements, protons for the most part, accelerated to high energies as a result of supernova explosions.*
Such a hypothesis was advanced back in the 1950s. It got a substantial confirmation when Acad. Vitaly Ginzburg (Nobel Prize, 2003) found that nonthermal radio-frequency radiation emanating from supernova remnants (SNR) is generated in magnetic fields by high-energy electrons with a spectrum close to that of cosmic rays.
What remained was experimental proof that a nuclear reaction of cosmic rays likewise occurs in SNR, that is understanding the mechanism of acceleration. According to Acad. Germogen Krymsky (Institute of Cosmophysical Studies and Aeronomy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences), a good deal of work has been done both in theory and in experimental studies to solve these two problems. As shown by research findings of the past two- three years, both have been clarified.
To detect the nuclear component of cosmic rays in SNR our physicists and astronomers joined hands in a cooperative effort and built super telescopes (designed by Acad. Pavel Cherenkov) capable of registering gamma radiation in the region of several TeV.** Such emissions were thought to be produced with the decay of neutral pions generated by the nuclear component.
Simultaneously a team of researchers under Dr. Yevgeny Berezhko (Institute of Cosmophysical Studies and Aeronomy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) came up with a theory postulating generation of cosmic rays by shock waves in SNR. Since in the process of acceleration a significant part of energy is imparted to cosmic rays, it was important to consider their reverse impact-that is the formation of an extended forefront and generation of magnetic turbulence. For this purpose one had to use the nonlinear theory and synthesize an effective computational algorithm. A new method for solving computational problems devised b ...
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