David Kolitzus Innsbruck

The cosmic ray electron plus positron flux measured with H.E.S.S.

Cosmic-ray electrons are only a small fraction of cosmic rays, but they are of unique importance in the sense that they provide information about particle accelerators in the local universe. Since cosmic-ray electrons in the TeV range suffer high energy losses through synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton processes their lifetime is limited to $\approx$ 10$^5$ yr. Therefore, only few nearby sources contribute to the TeV spectrum measured at earth and can leave characteristic imprints on the spectral shape. A measurement of the cosmic-ray electron spectrum could therefore provide direct information on the acceleration and propagation mechanisms of cosmic rays and even the identification of specific sources could be possible. At TeV energies the H.E.S.S. Cherenkov system is the most sensitive instrument of its kind and has provided the highest energy measurement of cosmic-ray electrons so far. In my talk the current status of the spectrum measured with H.E.S.S. will be presented.