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Title: Pinpointing cosmic ray propagation with the AMS-02 experiment

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Padova, via Marzolo 8, I-35131, Padova (Italy)
  2. Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States)
  3. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), which is scheduled to be deployed onboard the International Space Station later this year, will be capable of measuring the composition and spectra of GeV-TeV cosmic rays with unprecedented precision. In this paper, we study how the projected measurements from AMS-02 of stable secondary-to-primary and unstable ratios (such as boron-to-carbon and beryllium-10-to-beryllium-9) can constrain the models used to describe the propagation of cosmic rays throughout the Milky Way. We find that within the context of fairly simple propagation models, all of the model parameters can be determined with high precision from the projected AMS-02 data. Such measurements are less constraining in more complex scenarios, however, which allow for departures from a power-law form for the diffusion coefficient, for example, or for inhomogeneity or stochasticity in the distribution and chemical abundances of cosmic ray sources.

OSTI ID:
22272922
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2010, Issue 06; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English