Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2002-03-15
Phys.Lett. A310 (2003) 372
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
RevTeX, 10 pages including 1 eps figure
Scientific paper
10.1016/S0375-9601(03)00377-3
The analysis of cosmic rays fluxes as a function of energy reveals a {\it knee} slightly below $10^{16}$ eV and an {\it ankle} close to $10^{19}$ eV. Their physical origins remain up to now quite enigmatic; in particular, no elementary process is known which occurs at energies close to $10^{16}$ eV. We propose a phenomenological approach along the lines of nonextensive statistical mechanics, a formalism which contains Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics as a particular case. The knee then appears as a crossover between two fractal-like thermal regimes, the crossover being caused by process occurring at energies ten million times lower than that of the knee, in the region of the quark hadron transition ($\simeq 10^{9}$ eV). This opens the door to an unexpected standpoint for further clarifying the phenomenon.
Anjos Joao C.
Borges Ernesto P.
Tsallis Constantino
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