Search arXiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Ralph Engel

Publications and source records attributed to Ralph Engel.

77 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
arXiv1999

Monte-Carlo simulations of photohadronic processes in astrophysics

A new Monte Carlo program for photohadronic interactions of relativistic nucleons with an ambient photon radiation field is presented. The event generator is designed to fulfil typical astrophysical requirements, but can also be used for radiation and background studies at high energy colliders such as LEP2 and HERA, as well as for simulations of photon induced air showers. We consider the full photopion production cross section from the pion production threshold up to high energies. It includes resonance excitation and decay, direct single pion production and diffractive and non-diffractive multiparticle production. The cross section of each individual process is calculated by fitting experimental data, while the kinematics is determined by the underlying particle production process. We demonstrate that our model is capable of reproducing known accelerator data over a wide energy range.

astro-ph↗
arXiv1999

Antiprotons at Solar Maximum

New measurements with good statistics will make it possible to observe the time variation of cosmic antiprotons at 1 AU through the approaching peak of solar activity. We report a new computation of the interstellar antiproton spectrum expected from collisions between cosmic protons and the interstellar gas. This spectrum is then used as input to a steady-state drift model of solar modulation, in order to provide predictions for the antiproton spectrum as well as the antiproton/proton ratio at 1 AU. Our model predicts a surprisingly large, rapid increase in the antiproton/proton ratio through the next solar maximum, followed by a large excursion in the ratio during the following decade.

astro-ph↗
arXiv1998

Implications of HERA results for very high energy cosmic ray physics

Experimental results obtained with the HERA collider and recent progress in their theoretical interpretation are reviewed. After a short introduction to HERA physics, deep inelastic scattering and photoproduction are discussed as (virtual) photon-proton scattering. It is shown that the measurement and theoretical understanding of both photoproduction as well as low-x deep inelastic scattering are essential for obtaining reliable high energy extrapolations within hadron-hadron interaction models. Limitations of the predictive power of hadron interaction models due to the interplay of perturbative QCD and unitarity effects are discussed.

astro-ph↗
arXiv1998

Proton-proton Cross Section at sqrt(s) \sim 30 TeV

There are both theoretical and experimental uncertainties in using data from cosmic-ray air showers to estimate hadronic cross sections above accelerator energies. We outline these problems and compare the physics used to extract σ_{pp}^{tot} from air shower data to the widely used parameterization of the proton-proton cross section of Donnachie and Landshoff and other contemporary models. We conclude that the published cosmic-ray cross section values do not strongly constrain σ_{pp}^{tot} fits from lower energy accelerator data.

hep-ph↗