Cosmic Ray Origins in Supernova Blast Waves

Understand

We extend the self-similar solution derived by Chevalier for a Sedov blast wave accelerating cosmic rays (CR) to show that the Galactic CR population can be divided into: (A) CR with energies above ~200GeV released upstream during CR acceleration by supernova remnants (SNR), (B) CR advected into the interior of the SNR during expansion and then released from the SNR at the end of its life to provide the Galactic CR component below ~200GeV.

• The intersection between the two populations may correspond to a measured change in the Galactic CR spectral index at this energy.