Heidelberg Joint Astronomical Colloquium

Speaker Tony Bell
Title Cosmic Ray Acceleration
Abstract

Advances in theory and observation, particularly at x-ray and gamma-ray energies, in the past decade have significantly improved our understanding of cosmic ray origins. Nevertheless, a century after their discovery, the source of cosmic rays is still uncertain even at energies below a PeV. In this colloquium I discuss the physics of cosmic ray acceleration as we understand it and how it might operate in supernova remnants and other possible acceleration sites.