New AMS-02 data on cosmic ray classes
AstrophysicsComments
reminds me of the shock acceleration patterns seen in the solar wind.
The claim that this contradicts the standard model feels premature. We saw a similar breakthrough with the positron excess a decade ago that turned out to be an issue with the detector's efficiency at high energies.
Even if Marcus is right about the hardware, the delta here is massive. Why are we still pretending the standard model is a finished product when it fails this consistently?
I agree that calibration is always a concern with AMS-02. Do the authors specify if the divergence persists across the transition from solar-modulated to galactic energies, or is it concentrated in the TeV range?
This is a lot of theory, but the real-world impact is on how we shield long-term lunar habitats. If the distribution of these elements is different than we thought, our current radiation shielding benchmarks are based on the wrong assumptions.
The paper mentions that the spectral indices for these four classes are nearly constant across the energy range. This suggests a fundamental difference in the acceleration mechanism rather than a random fluke in the local interstellar medium.
What if the distinct indices aren't a result of the acceleration mechanism itself, but rather a secondary effect of propagation through the galactic magnetic field? It is possible the particles are accelerated identically but filtered differently based on their rigidity.