Antimatter in the Galaxy: Open problems for fundamental physics

by Prof. Fiorenza Donato (TO)

Wednesday 23 Nov 2016, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Rome

MLH (GSSI)

The physics of the galactic cosmic rays is entering a precision era, which touches also the rare species as the cosmic antimatter. We inspect the effect of close sources - such as supernovae and pulsars - on the positron and electron fluxes measured by AMS-02. We show how the interpretation of antiproton data by recent experiments, mostly by AMS-02, starts to be limited by the lack of data on the relevant cross sections. In particular, all the reactions occurring in the Galaxy between hydrogen and helium whether are not sufficiently accurate, or are lacking at all. We discuss at which extent the models for galactic cosmic ray data - including also a viable dark matter component - could improve with dedicated experiments at colliders.