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School of Chemistry & Physics
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
ADELAIDE SA
5005 AUSTRALIA

Telephone: +61 8 8303 5996
Facsimile: +61 8 8303 4380

Interactions and Energy-Loss Processes

Cosmic rays interact with interstellar matter in our galaxy or other galaxies. The highest energy cosmic rays, the most energetic particles known in the Universe are probably extra-galactic. During their propagation through the Universe, the interaction processes illustrated in Figures below give rise to cascading, with much of the energy going into electrons and photons cascading down to the 1GeV gamma-ray range.

Proton Interactions

Protons interact with photons resulting in pion production and pair production:

Electron Interactions

Electrons interact via inverse-Compton scattering and triplet pair production and emit also synchrotron radiation:

Photon Interactions

Gamma-rays interact by pair production: