On the observed time evolution of cosmic rays in a new time domain

Abstract

Since the 1990's, it has been recognized that the full explanation of cosmic rays (CR) and their spectrum may require some new physics. The debate on the origin of CR has led to the conclusion that while most CR come from supernova explosions in the Galaxy, CR with very high energies are likely of extragalactic origin. However, a response to several open questions, still unanswered, concerning CR above 1013 eV is required. We herewith study the temporal evolution of the observational CR using data collected by several stations of the ground-based network. The obtained result states that the power spectral density of the CR temporal evolution, especially with a frequency less than 0.1 Hz, exhibits the Kolmogorov-Obukhov 5/3 law that exhibits the energy spectrum of many geophysical quantities. Any small difference found from the 5/3 exponent can be attributed to intermittency corrections and the stations' characteristics. Moreover, natural time analysis applied to the CR time series showed the critical role of the quasi-biennial oscillation to the entropy maximization which occurs following the 5/3 Kolmogorov-Obukhov power law. These findings can be used to more reliably predict extreme CR events that could have an impact even at the molecular level.