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Source of the Cosmic Rays

Abstract

THE enormous energy possessed by the cosmic rays has given rise to many speculations as to how they could be generated, which have gone deep into the properties of the ultimate particles, and into the distribution of matter in outer space1. The purpose of the present note is to direct attention to a much cruder and simpler mechanism which does not appear to have been considered. In putting it forward I do not intend to imply that it is necessarily exclusive, but only that its potentialities should be examined ; it might provide the whole effect, or it might provide a useful starting point for other mechanisms to work on.

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References

  1. See, for example, Fermi, Phys. Rev., 75, 1169 (1949).

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  2. Phil. Mag., 34, 94 (1917).

  3. J. l'Ecole Polytech., 7, 319 (1808).

  4. Phil. Trans., 150, 133 (1860).

  5. Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 84, 247 (1910)

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Darwin, C. Source of the Cosmic Rays. Nature 164, 1112–1114 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/1641112a0

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