[Triumf-seminars] UBC colloquium 24 January: Pierre Auger Observatory results

[Barry Davids]

Next week's UBC colloquium will be on ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. If  
you are interested in meeting personally with the speaker, please e- 
mail Scott Oser, oser at phas.ubc.ca , who will be arranging his schedule.

Title:    Origins of the Highest Energy Cosmic Rays: New Results from  
the Pierre Auger Observatory
Speaker:  Corbin Covault (Case Western Reserve University)
Date:     Thursday January 24, 2008 at 4pm in Hennings 201 at UBC

Abstract:  The world's largest cosmic ray observatory has recently  
reported a new result that represents a major step forward in our  
understanding of the origins of the highest energy cosmic rays. The  
astrophysical origins of the highest energy cosmic rays have remained  
a persistent mystery for decades. Where in the universe do these  
particles come from? How do they obtain such enormous energies? Now  
finally, we seem to have a new handle to address these questions. The  
Pierre Auger Observatory, in Malargue, Argentina, has been operating  
since 2004, and already we have some clues, including the energy  
spectrum and limits on photon flux that strongly suggest an  
extragalactic origin for the highest energy cosmic rays. But quite  
recently, the unparalleled collecting area of Auger has been brought  
to bear on the question of potential correlations between nearby  
active galaxies and cosmic ray arrival directions. In this talk, I  
will summarize our main correlation result and what this implies for  
the origins of cosmic rays. I will also describe plans for the future  
that we expect will lead to unambiguous identifications of individual  
astrophysical objects as sources.

Barry Davids
Adjunct Professor of Physics,
Simon Fraser University and
Research Scientist
TRIUMF, Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics
4004 Wesbrook Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 2A3
Canada
(604) 222-7396



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.triumf.ca/pipermail/triumf-seminars/attachments/20080118/1fc04533/attachment.html