Entering the cosmic ray precision era

Abstract

Here we outline some recent activities in the theory and phenomenology of Galactic cosmic rays, in the light of the great precision of direct cosmic ray measurements reached in the last decade. In the energy domain of interest, ranging from a few GeV/nucleon to tens of TeV/nucleon, data have revealed some novel features requiring an explanation. We shall emphasize the importance of a more refined modeling, of achieving a better assessment of theoretical uncertainties associated to the models, and of testing key predictions specific of different models against the rich datasets available nowadays. Despite the still shaky theoretical situation, several hints have accumulated suggesting the need to go beyond the approximation of a homogeneous and non-dynamical diffusion coefficient in the Galaxy.