Cosmic Ray Astrophysics

Providing an exhaustive account of the origin and dynamics of cosmic rays, this volume is divided into three parts. First, it gives an up-to-date summary of the observational data, then deals with the kinetic description of cosmic ray plasma. The underlying diffusion-convection transport equation, which governs the coupling between cosmic rays and the background plasma, is derived and analyzed in detail. In the third part, several applications of the solutions of the transport equation are presented and how key observations in cosmic ray physics can be accounted for is demonstrated. While primarily of interest to scientists working at the forefront of research, the very careful derivations and explanations make this a suitable introduction for graduates.