Spectral features in the cosmic ray fluxes

TL;DR

This paper discusses the importance of spectral features in cosmic ray fluxes, focusing on how to define and analyze their width to better understand astrophysical acceleration and propagation mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a method to define and parametrize the width of spectral features in cosmic ray spectra, enhancing the analysis of these structures.

Findings

Proposes a new approach to measure spectral feature width

Analyzes prominent spectral structures in cosmic ray data

Highlights the significance of feature width in astrophysical insights

Abstract

The cosmic ray energy distributions contain spectral features, that is narrow energy regions where the slope of the spectrum changes rapidly. The identification and study of these features is of great importance to understand the astrophysical mechanisms of acceleration and propagation that form the spectra. In first approximation a spectral feature in often described as a discontinuous change in slope, however very valuable information is also contained in its width, that is the length of the interval in logarithm of energy where the change in spectral index develops. In this work we discuss the best way to define and parametrize the width a spectral feature, and for illustration discuss some of the most prominent known structures.