Ultra high energy cosmic rays above 1011 GeV: Hints to new physics beyond Standard Model

The observed cosmic ray events above 10¹² GeV are difficult to explain within the context of known physics of propagation of known particles in the Universe and within the standard acceleration mechanisms that are likely to operate in powerful astrophysical objects. Several ideas of possible new physics beyond the Standard Model have been suggested in order to explain these events. The major suggestions are summarized here.     

Laser cosmology

Recent years have witnessed tremendous progress in our understanding of the cosmos, which in turn points to even deeper questions to be further addressed. Concurrently the laser technology has undergone dramatic revolutions, providing exciting opportunity for science applications. History has shown that the symbiosis between direct observations and laboratory investigation is instrumental in the progress of astrophysics. We believe that this remains true in cosmology. Current frontier phenomena related to particle astrophysics and cosmology typically involve one or more of the following conditions: (1) extremely high energy events;(2) very high density, high temperature processes; (3) super strong field environments. Laboratory experiments using high intensity lasers can calibrate astrophysical observations, investigate underlying dynamics of astrophysical phenomena, and probe fundamental physics in extreme limits. In this article we give an overview of the exciting prospect of laser cosmology. In particular, we showcase its unique capability of investigating frontier cosmology issues such as cosmic accelerator and quantum gravity.     

强激光天体物理学研究——在强激光实验室中模拟某些天体物理过程(Ⅰ)

用激光等离子体相互作用对天体物理过程进行模拟研究已成为当前世界物理和天文学家深感兴趣的重要前沿领域 .文章比较了强激光作用下产生的等离子体与天体物理条件下的等离子体之间在内部物理过程的相似性 ,论述了由前者模拟后者的物理依据 ,即相似性原则和定标规律 .在此基础上 ,回顾和评述了当前已经在高离化态光谱学、类天体等离子体状态方程和辐射不透明度以及流体动力学不稳定性等方面开展的强激光天体物理学的研究 ,这些研究对于理解超新星、白矮星、中子星以及巨行星、褐矮星等领域的天体物理过程起到了极大的作用 ,并正在成为联系天体物理理论模拟和观测的中间桥梁     

强激光实验室天体物理介绍

实验室天体物理是交叉于高能量密度等离子体物理学与天体物理学之间的一个新的学科生长点。利用强激光装置可以在实验室创造与某些天体或天体周围相似的极端物理环境，这样的实验条件前所未有，且与天体物理中诸多重要的物理现象直接对应。通过近距、主动、参数可控的研究，实验室天体物理有助于解决目前天体物理和等离子体物理中的一些关键的、共性的问题，并有望取得突破性成果。针对近年来国内外在该领域取得的最新研究进展进行介绍，并就将来可能开展的研究方向进行展望。     

X-ray spectroscopy diagnostics of a recombining plasma in laboratory astrophysics studies

The investigation of a recombining laser plasma is topical primarily because it can be used to simulate the interaction between plasma jets in astrophysical objects. It has been shown that the relative intensities of transitions of a resonance series of He-like multicharged ions can be used for the diagnostics of the recombining plasma. It has been found that the intensities of the indicated transitions for ions with the nuclear charge number Z _n ~ 10 are sensitive to the plasma density in the range N _e ~ 10¹⁶–10²⁰ cm^–3 at temperatures of 10–100 eV. The calculations performed for the F VIII ion have determined the parameters of plasma jets created at the ELFIE nanosecond laser facility (Ecole Polytechnique, France) in order to simulate astrophysical phenomena. The resulting universal calculation dependences can be used to diagnose different recombining plasmas containing helium-like fluorine ions.     

Simulation of Supernova Expansion

We study the possibility of laboratory modeling of some processes that are intrinsic to supernova (SN) explosion by means of powerful lasers (the so-called laboratory astrophysics); in particular, the possibility of reproducing astrophysical data via numerical models was originally aimed at laser plasma simulation. First of all, we analyze hydrodynamic similarity criteria for the considered processes. Then, we conduct 1D and 2D hydrodynamic simulations to model the expansion dynamics of the SN remnant (the progenitor mass is ～5–15 that of the Sun) during several hundreds of seconds after the explosion, including initially asymmetric configurations. Basing on the similarity criteria, we consider possible laser targets – simulators for a supernova, which mimic some processes inherent in astrophysical phenomenon, such as shock wave propagation through a medium, the development of hydrodynamic instabilities at contact boundaries of shells of different densities, etc. We present a simple solution to the problem of blast wave propagation in a medium with density distributed according to a decreasing power law, which is a good approximation for the density distribution in a supernova progenitor.     

High-energy astrophysics with neutrino telescopes

Neutrino astrophysics offers new perspectives on the Universe investigation: high-energy neutrinos, produced by the most energetic phenomena in our Galaxy and in the Universe, carry complementary (if not exclusive) information about the cosmos with respect to photons. While the small interaction cross section of neutrinos allows them to come from the core of astrophysical objects, it is also a drawback, as their detection requires a large target mass. This is why it is convenient to put huge cosmic neutrino detectors in natural locations, like deep underwater or under-ice sites. In order to supply for such extremely hostile environmental conditions, new frontier technologies are under development. The aim of this work is to review the motivations for high-energy neutrino astrophysics, the present status of experimental results and the technologies used in underwater/ice Cherenkov experiments, with a special focus on the efforts for the construction of a km³-scale detector in the Mediterranean Sea.     

强激光天体物理学研究

用激光等离子体相互作用对天体物理过程进行模拟研究已成为当前世界物理和天文学家深感兴趣的重要前沿领域.文章比较了强激光作用下产生的等离子体与天体物理条件下的等离子体之间在内部物理过程的相似性,论述了由前者模拟后者的物理依据,即相似性原则和定标规律.在此基础上,回顾和评述了当前已经在高离化态光谱学、类天体等离子体状态方程和辐射不透明度以及流体动力学不稳定性等方面开展的强激光天体物理学的研究,这些研究对于理解超新星、白矮星、中子星以及巨行星、褐矮星等领域的天体物理过程起到了极大的作用,并正在成为联系天体物理理论模拟和观测的中间桥梁.     

强激光产生的强磁场及其对弓激波的影响

强激光照射金属线圈后,会在打靶点附近的背景等离子体中诱发冷电子的回流,在金属丝内形成强电流源,从而产生强磁场.本文利用神光II高功率激光器产生的强激光照射金属丝靶,产生了围绕金属丝的环形强磁场.利用B-dot对局域磁感应强度进行了测量,根据测量结果,结合三维模拟程序,反演得到磁场的空间分布.再利用强激光与CH平面靶相互作用产生的超音速等离子体撞击该金属丝,产生了弓激波.通过光学成像手段研究了磁场对冲击波的影响,发现磁场使得弓激波的轮廓变得不明显并且张角变大.同时,通过实验室天体物理定标率,将金属丝表面等离子参数变换到相应的天体参数中,结果证明利用该实验方法可以在实验室中产生类似太阳风的磁化等离子体.     

利用X射线激光进行激光等离子体射流的诊断

射流是激光惯性约束聚变(ICF)、天体物理学等领域中一种普遍存在的非线性现象.在实验室对射流现象进行模拟、诊断等方面的研究对于理解ICF、天体物理中的相关现象具有重要参考价值.采用纳秒激光辐照特殊形状的圆孔靶产生等离子体射流,利用波长为13.9nm的X射线激光作为光源对特定时刻的射流进行阴影成像,获得了清晰的射流阴影图像,与理论模拟结果定性一致. 关键词： 射流 X射线激光 等离子体诊断     

High-energy cosmic rays: Puzzles,models, and giga-ton neutrino telescopes

The existence of cosmic rays of energies exceeding 10²⁰ eV is one of the mysteries of high-energy astrophysics. The spectrum and the high energy to which it extends rule out almost all suggested source models. The challenges posed by observations to models for the origin of high-energy cosmic rays are reviewed, and the implications of recent new experimental results are discussed. Large area high-energy cosmic ray detectors and large volume high-energy neutrino detectors currently under construction may resolve the high-energy cosmic ray puzzle, and shed light on the identity and physics of the most powerful accelerators in the Universe.     

The current status of research in ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray physics: A brief review

The origin and nature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs, E > 10¹⁸ eV) is one of the most intriguing unsolved problems of modern astrophysics. This review is dedicated to the current status of research in this field. We describe the largest ongoing experiments carried out at the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array, at the first orbital detector of UHECRs, that is, TUS, and for the KLPVE and JEM-EUSO orbital telescopes, which are currently being developed. We discuss the latest results on the energy spectrum and mass composition of UHECRs and the relationship between UHECRs on the one hand and ultrahigh-energy neutrinos and photons on the other. Finally, we review the latest results on the anisotropy of the arrival directions of UHECRs, which is a crucially important area of research in the search for astrophysical sources of cosmic rays in the highest energy range.     

实验室天体物理学中的标度变换

采用当前最先进的激光装置,可以获得与天体物理过程中相同或相似的条件,因此实验室天体物理学已成为激光等离子体物理学家位深感兴趣的研究内容,也同时成为天体物理学家所关注的问题,然而,激光等离子体为微米级的空间尺度和纳秒或更短的时间尺度,而天体物理的对象则为宇宙学的极大的时间与空间尺度,文章讨论了在物理上和实际操作上将这两种表面上存在巨大差异的物理过程对应起来,从而为利用激光等离子体研究天体物理过程中提供了可能性。     

Ultraintense lasers: relativistic nonlinear optics and applications

Traditional optics and nonlinear optics are related to laser–matter interaction with eV characteristic energy. Recent progresses in ultrahigh intensity makes it possible to drive electrons with relativistic energy opening up the field of relativistic nonlinear optics. In the last decade, lasers have undergone orders-of-magnitude jumps in peak power, with the invention of the technique of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) and the refinements of femtosecond techniques. Modern CPA lasers can produce intensities greater than 10²¹ W/cm², one million times greater than previously possible. These ultraintense lasers give researchers a tool to produce unprecedented pressures (terabars), magnetic fields (gigagauss), temperatures (10¹⁰ K), and accelerations (10²⁵ g) with applications in fusion energy, nuclear physics (fast ignition), high-energy physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. They promote the optics field from the eV to the GeV.     

与天体物理相关的光电离等离子体的实验室研究

光电离等离子体在天体物理环境中普遍存在,并且由于与黑洞等致密天体紧密关联而具有重要的研究意义.近年来,随着大功率强激光及Z箍缩技术的发展,在实验室中实现了天体环境中的光电离等离子体和光电离过程的模拟.这为验证光电离理论模型的可靠性和准确性,以及认识天体物理环境中的光电离过程及其物理环境的诊断提供了重要的新手段.文章介绍了与天体物理相关的光电离等离子体的实验室研究进展.     

Preface: High energy astrophysics

High energy astrophysics is one of the most active branches in the contemporary astrophysics. It studies astrophysical objects that emit X-ray and γ-ray photons, such as accreting super-massive and stellar-size black holes, and various species of neutron stars. With the operations of many space-borne and ground-based observational facilities, high energy astrophysics has enjoyed rapid development in the past decades. It is foreseen that the field will continue to advance rapidly in the coming decade, with possible ground-breaking discoveries of astrophysical sources in the high-energy neutrino and gravitational wave channels. This Special Issue of Frontiers of Physics is dedicated to a systematic survey of the field of high energy astrophysics as it stands in 2013.     

The relevance of HED lasers to astrophysics

The role of high energy density (HED) lasers in astrophysics is reviewed, emphasizing connections with laser physics experiments and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Careful validation of astrophysical methods, by laboratory experiment, by critical comparison of numerical and analytical methods, and by observation are necessary for the development of simulation methods with reliable predictive capability. Recent results from hydrodynamic simulations of stellar evolution, HED laser experiments, and computer simulations will be discussed, and related to stellar evolution and supernovae.     

Inertial fusion science and technology for the 21 st century

This paper reviews the leading edge of the basic and applied science that use high-intensity facilities. The more than 15 000 experiments on the Nova laser since 1985 and many thousands more on other laser, particle beam, and pulsed power facilities around the world have established the new laboratory field of high-energy-density plasma physics and have furthered development of inertial fusion. High-brightness femtosecond lasers have enabled the study of matter in conditions previously unachievable on earth. These experiments and advanced calculations have established the specifications for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and Laser MegaJoule (LMJ) and have enhanced scientific fields such as laboratory astrophysics. Science and technology developed in inertial fusion have found near-term commercial use, have enabled steady progress toward the goal of fusion ignition and gain in the laboratory, and have opened up new fields of study for the 21 ^st century.     

Extremely high energy cosmic rays

The evidence for the existence of cosmic rays with energies in excess of 10²⁰ eV is now overwhelming. There is so far no indication of the GZK cutoff in the energy spectrum at 5 × 10¹⁹ eV. This conclusion is not firm for lack of statistics. A cutoff would be expected if the sources of the cosmic rays were distributed uniformly throughout the cosmos. The sources of cosmic rays with energy above the GZK cutoff must be at a distance ≤ 100 Mpc, and if they are protons they are very likely to point to these sources. There are no easy explanations how known astrophysical objects can accelerate protons (or atomic nuclei) to these energies. This difficulty has led to speculation that there may be exotic sources such as topological defects which produce these energetic cosmic rays directly along with a copious supply of neutrinos of similar energy. The fluxes of these cosmic rays is very low and large instruments are required to observe them even with modest statistics. One such instrument, the Pierre Auger Observatory, is described. It is designed for all-sky coverage and the construction of its southern site will begin in Argentina in 1999.