Observation of high-energy radiations and particles from the cosmos

Tiina Suomijarvi (IJCLab, IN2P3-CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France)

The observation of very high-energy radiations and particles from the cosmos has opened up a new and challenging research field. These high-energy “cosmic messengers” are gamma rays, charged particles, neutrinos and more recently gravitational waves. Their energies can extend to energies many more orders of magnitude higher than those produced by man-made accelerators. The origin of these cosmic radiations and particles is currently one of the main questions in the Astroparticle Physics. They can be linked to the most violent objects of the Universe or to yet unknown particles. 

As these cosmic messengers are rare and difficult to detect, the technique employed requires deployment of large area detectors and use of large volume natural detector media (atmosphere, see water, ice). 

In this talk some of these experiments, with emphasis on high-energy cosmic rays by the Pierre Auger Observatory and gamma rays by the Cherenkov Telescope Array, are described and the most recent results are presented.