Laurent Derome
LPSC, France
Galatic Cosmic Ray Physics with Isotopes
Galactic Cosmic rays (CRs) are associated with the most energetic events such as supernova explosions where the primary CR species such as Carbon and Oxygen are produced and accelerated. The secondary species, such as lithium, beryllium, and boron are produced as a consequence of nuclear interactions of primary species during their propagation through the interstellar medium. The most standard observable to study the propagation of CRs in the Galaxy is the flux ratio of a secondary species to a primary one. Complementary the 10Be radioactive secondary isotope can be used as a clock to determine the cosmic-ray age. In modern CR propagation models, the radioactive clocks are used to determine the halo size L of the Galaxy. Besides the motivation for a better characterization of the transport parameters in the Galaxy, the determination of L is also crucial for setting constraints on dark matter from indirect detection of anti-particles. In this presentation, I will describe how the AMS experiment can identify and measure the isotopic component of CRs and how such measurements are used to constrain models describing the propagation of CRs.