Book Description

The complete story of the origin, acceleration, and propagation of cosmic rays has remained a mystery for over a century. No conclusive evidence exists for how supernova remnants, the known sources of at least a large fraction of galactic cosmic rays, can accelerate cosmic rays up to the required energies. The origin of extragalactic cosmic rays is still completely unknown, with active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, certain types of neutron stars, and large scale shocks being the most popular candidates. This dissertation focuses on three separate but related topics: the interaction of anisotropic plasmas and cosmic rays, the propagation of cosmic rays in the presence of dense gas clouds, and the acceleration of extragalactic cosmic rays by strong accretion shocks around clusters and filaments of galaxies. The first major topic relaxes the common assumption that astrophysical plasmas have an isotropic pressure distribution caused by the presence of a magnetic field. We derive the dispersion relation for such a plasma with anisotropic magnetohydrodynamics as well as instabilities that are likely to amplify the magnetic field. This amplification may help to explain how shock fronts amplify the ambient magnetic field and accelerate cosmic rays to higher energies. The second major section examines the effect of dense gas clouds on the magnetic field and consequently on the propagation and emission of cosmic rays. This chapter is an attempt to gain insight on the gamma-ray spectrum of supernova remnants in such environments, where the spatial distribution and the spectral index of cosmic rays remains unexplained. The third topic uses new observations and simulations to modify a model of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays from strong accretion shocks. New evidence suggests that shocks around the large-scale structure of the universe -- not only shocks around galaxy clusters -- are adequate for accelerating cosmic rays up to the highest energies. Though the composition of these particles remains unknown, we propose two potential composition models, one with only protons and one with protons and heavy nuclei. Though the applications and environments discussed in each chapter varies, the underlying principles are similar. The full story of cosmic rays is not a simple one, and we hope that additions we have added to the standard theory provide useful tools for understanding other aspects of cosmic rays and perhaps other areas of astrophysics.