Abundance enhancements of silicon to iron in solar energetic particles and their implications

Differential energy spectra of low abundant elements between silicon and iron of energetic solar particles (SEP) in the August 4, 1972 event were measured in the energy region of 10 to 40 MeV amu^–1 using rocket-borne Lexan detectors. The relative abundances of elements were determined and abundance enhancements, i.e., SEP/photospheric ratios, and their energy dependence were derived in 10–40 MeV amu^–1 interval. It is found that there are four types of abundance enhancements as a function of energy as follows: (a) silicon, iron, and calcium show fairly strong energy dependence which decreases with increasing energy and at 20–40 MeV amu^–1 reaches photospheric values; (b) in case of sulphur enhancement factors are independent of energy and the values are close to unity; (c) argon shows energy independent enhancements of about 3 to 4 in 10–40 MeV amu^–1; (d) titanium and chromium show weakly energy-dependent, but very high abundance enhancement factor of about 10 to 40. These features are to be understood in terms of the atomic properties of these elements and on the physical conditions in the accelerating region. These are important not only for solar phenomena but also to gain insight into the abundance enhancements of cosmic-ray heavy nuclei.on leave from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India.