The General scenario

Abstract

Within cosmic ray transport theory, we investigate the interaction between energetic charged particles like electrons, protons, or heavy ions and astrophysical plasmas such as the solar wind or the interstellar medium. These particles interact with a background magnetic field B ₀ and with turbulent electric and magnetic fields ýE and ýB, and they therefore experience scattering parallel and perpendicular to B ₀. In this introductory chapter, general properties of cosmic rays are discussed, as well as the unperturbed motion of the particles. Furthermore, the physics of parallel and perpendicular scattering is investigated. At the end of this chapter, we consider observed mean free paths of cosmic rays in the heliosphere and in the interstel- lar medium. One aim of this book is to demonstrate that a nonlinear description of particle transport is necessary to reproduce these measurements.