Current status and desired accuracy of the isotopic production cross sections relevant to astrophysics of cosmic rays I. Li, Be, B, C, N

Understand

The accuracy of the current generation of cosmic-ray (CR) experiments, such as AMS-02, PAMELA, CALET, and ISS-CREAM, is now reaching $\sim$1--3\% in a wide range in energy per nucleon from GeV/n to multi-TeV/n.

• Their correct interpretation could potentially lead to discoveries of new physics and subtle effects that were unthinkable just a decade ago.
• However, a major obstacle in doing so is the current uncertainty in the isotopic production cross sections that can be as high as 20--50\% or even larger in some cases.
• While there is a recently reached consensus in the astrophysics community that new measurements of cross sections are desirable, no attempt to evaluate the importance of particular reaction channels and their required accuracy has been made yet.