Precision measurements of nuclear CR energy spectra and composition with the AMS-02 experiment

Abstract

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 02 (AMS-02) is a large acceptance high-energy physics experiment operating since May 2011 on board the International Space Station. More than 60 billion events have been collected by the instrument in the first four years of operation. AMS-02 offers a unique opportunity to study the Cosmic Rays (CRs) since it measures the spectra of all the species simultaneously. We report on the precision measurements of primary and secondary nuclear spectra, in the GeV-TeV energy interval. These measurements allow for the first time a detailed study of the spectral index variation with rigidity providing a new insight on the origin and propagation of CR.