Cosmic-ray physics at IceCube*

When high-energy cosmic rays enter Earth's atmosphere, they initiate large particle cascades, called air showers, which can be detected on the ground using various techniques. IceCube, with an in-ice optical array and a surface array of Cherenkov tanks, constitutes a unique air-shower detector. The surface array, IceTop, measures mainly electromangetic particles and low-energy muons, while the in-ice array detects high-energy muons. This allows us to study the cosmic-ray energy spectrum and composition in the energy range from PeV to EeV, which is a region where we expect to detect cosmic rays from the most powerful Galactic sources. Moreover, we are able to investigate the anisotropy of cosmic rays, as well as the production of high-energy muons in air showers. In this talk I will present an overview of IceCube's cosmic-ray science program with an outlook of future plans.