Astrophysics Seminar
Demystifying the origin of the break in the high-energy cosmic-ray electron spectrum
Speaker: Satyendra Thoudam (Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE)
Recent measurements of the total cosmic-ray electron and positron spectrum by several experiments have confirmed the presence of a break at ~ 1 TeV. The origin of the break is still not clearly understood. In this talk, I will present different possibilities for the origin, and show that if supernova remnants are the main sources of cosmic rays in the Galaxy, the observed data favour a scenario with a broken power-law electron source spectrum. Such a power-law break in the spectrum has been predicted for electrons confined inside supernova remnants, and also indicated by the multi-wavelength studies of the remnants. All these evidences suggest that the observed break could be an indication of a direct link between cosmic-ray electrons and their sources.