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This volume is the product of Lecturers in the fourth Course of the International School of Cosmic-Ray Astrophysics held at the Ettore Majorana Center in Erice, Sicily in November, 1984. The Course, devoted to "Cosmic Radiation in Contemporary Astrophysics," was concurrently a NATO-sponsored Advanced Study Institute (ASI). Cosmic-ray research is in a state of ferment. Precise measure ments - some made with instruments aboard sattelites and space probe- have been confronting models and theories with severe constraints. The observations of gamma-ray sources, notably Cyg X-3, at energies up to 16 10 eV, have opened up tantalizing possibilities of direct source iden tification. This ASI was devoted largely to interdisciplinary phenomena in cosmic-ray astrophysics whose understanding requires input from the other channels in astronomy. It explored the ways in which progress in cosmic-ray science might clarify phenomena observed in related disciplines. In trying to achieve this aim, we assembled a staff of lecturers representing various astrophysical specialties, such as radio astronomy, optical astronomy, X-ray astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, and of course, particle astronomy (i.e., cosmic radiation). Students and other participants were likewise drawn from diverse backgrounds. Vigorous discussions enlivened almost every session.
List of contents
I. Composition.- Cosmic Ray Abundances, Elemental and Isotopic.- II. Acceleration.- Stochastic Particle Acceleration in Cosmic Objects.- Cosmic Ray Acceleration by Binary Neutron Stars.- Particle Acceleration by Pulsars.- Particle Acceleration by Magnetic Reconnection.- III. Origin and Propagation.- Energetics of Cosmic Ray Origin.- The Composition, Propagation and Origin of High Energy Cosmic Rays (E ? 1012 eV/u).- Nuclear Cross Sections, Cosmic Ray Propagation and Source Composition.- Synthesis of Ideas on Cosmic Ray Origin and Propagation.- IV. Anisotropies.- Anisotropies of High Energy Cosmic Rays.- V. Gamma Rays, Cosmic Rays, and the Interstellar Medium.- New Evidence on the Galactic Cosmic Ray Distribution from Cos-B Gamma-Ray Data.- Interdisciplinary Effort Towards Understanding the Galactic Gamma-Ray Source Population.- Ultra High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy.- Cosmic Rays and the Interstellar Medium.- VI. Cosmic X-Rays; Quasars.- Pulsating X-Ray Sources.- X-Ray Burst Sources.- X-Ray Sky Surveys and the Rosat Mission.- Quasars: Cosmological Evolution and X-Ray Background Contribution.- Author Index.
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`... the book provides in a single place a proper perspective of current cosmic-ray research.'
Space Science Reviews, Vol. 45, 1987.
