The temperature structure of chromospheric flares heated by non-thermal electrons

Heating of the deep chromosphere by a vertically descending beam of non-thermal electrons with power-law energy spectrum, in flares, is analysed. In lower regions of the flare, radiative losses can balance the energy input and the flare structure is described in terms of instantaneous quasi-steady temperature/depth profiles. Motion of the optical flare material is at constant pressure and is constrained to be purely vertical by a vertical magnetic field. The ionisation of hydrogen is determined by the same non-LTE processes as in the quiet chromosphere. Temperature profiles are obtained for a wide range of electron beam intensities and spectral indices and are discussed in terms of optical flare observations. Due to the steepness of the electron spectra, typical densities in the optical flare vary only over a narrow range, despite the diversity of beam intensities, in agreement with observation.Above a certain region, the flare material cannot attain a radiatively steady state against the electron input but evaluation of the level at which this occurs leads to an estimate of the mass of material involved in the high temperature flare plasma in this model. Results, which are again insensitive to the electron beam parameters, are found to be in satisfactory agreement with observations of the mass of flare ejecta and of soft X-ray flare emission measures.     

Comparisons of solar flare X-ray producing and escaping electrons from ∼ 2 TO 100 keV

Using observations from the ISEE-3 spacecraft, we compare the X-ray producing electrons and escaping electrons from a solar flare on 8 November, 1978. The instantaneous 5 to 75 keV electron spectrum in the X-ray producing region is computed from the observed bremsstrahlung X-ray spectrum. Assuming that energy loss by Coulomb collisions (thick target) is the dominant electron loss process, the accelerated electron spectrum is obtained. The energy spectrum of the escaping electrons observed from 2 to 100 keV differs significantly from the spectra of the X-ray producing electrons and of the accelerated electrons, even when the energy loss which the escaping electrons experienced during their travel from the Sun to the Earth is taken into account. The observations are consistent with a model where the escaping electrons come from an extended X-ray producing region which ranges from the chromosphere to high in the corona. In this model the low energy escaping electrons (2–10 keV) come from the higher part of the extended X-ray source where the overlying column density is low, while the high energy electrons (20–100 keV) come from the entire X-ray source.     

First phase acceleration mechanisms and implications for hard X-ray burst models in solar flares

Requirements for the number of nonthermal electrons which must be accelerated in the impulsive phase of a flare are reviewed. These are uncertain by two orders of magnitude depending on whether hard X-rays above 25 keV are produced primarily by hot thermal electrons which contain a small fraction of the flare energy or by nonthermal streaming electrons which contain > 50% of the flare energy. Possible acceleration mechanisms are considered to see to what extent either X-ray production scenario can be considered viable. Direct electric field acceleration is shown to involve significant heating. In addition, candidate primary energy release mechanisms to convert stored magnetic energy into flare energy, steady reconnection and the tearing mode instability, transfer at least half of the stored energy into heat and most of the remaining energy to ions. Acceleration by electron plasma waves requires that the waves be driven to large amplitude by electrons with large streaming velocities or by anisotropic ion-acoustic waves which also require streaming electrons for their production. These in turn can only come from direct electric field acceleration since it is shown that ion-acoustic waves excited by the primary current cannot amplify electron plasma waves. Thus, wave acceleration is subject to the same limitations as direct electric field acceleration. It is concluded that at most 0.1% of the flare energy can be deposited into nonthermal streaming electrons with the energy conversion mechanisms as they have been proposed and known acceleration mechanisms. Thus, hard X-ray production above 10 keV primarily by hot thermal electrons is the only choice compatible with models for the primary energy release as they presently exist.     

Inversion of Thick-Target Bremsstrahlung Spectra from Nonuniformly Ionised Plasmas

The effects of non-uniform plasma target ionisation on the spectrum of thick-target HXR bremsstrahlung from a non-thermal electron beam are analysed. In particular the effect of the target ionisation structure on beam collisional energy losses, and hence on inversion of an observed photon spectrum to yield the electron injection spectrum, is considered and results compared with those obtained under the usual assumption of a fully ionised target.The problem is formulated and solved in principle for a general target ionisation structure, then discussed in detail for the case of a step function distribution of ionisation with column depth as an approximation to the sharp coronal–chromospheric step structure in solar flare plasmas. It is found that such ionisation structure has very dramatic effects on derivation of the thick-target electron injection spectrum F₀(E₀) as compared with the result F*₀(E ₀) obtained under the usual assumption of a fully ionised target: (a) Inferred F*₀ contain more electrons than F ₀ and in some cases include electrons at energies where none are actually present. Although the total (energy-integrated) beam fluxes in the two cases do not differ by a factor of more than A_ee/A_eH, the spectral shapes can differ greatly over finite energy intervals resulting in the danger of misleading results for total fluxes obtained by extrapolation. (b) The unconstrained mathematical solution for F₀ for any photon spectrum is never unique, while that for F*₀ is unique. When the physical constraint F₀ 0 is added, for some photon spectra solutions for F₀ may not exist or may not be unique. (This is not an effect of noise but of real analytic ambiguity.) (c) For data corresponding to F*₀ with a low-energy cut-off, or a cut-off or rapid enough exponential decline at high energies, a unique solution F₀ does exist and we obtain a recursive summation for its evaluation.Consequently, in future work on the inversion of HXR bremsstrahlung spectra it will be vital for algorithms to include the effects of target ionisation if spurious results on thick-target electron spectra are not to be inferred. Finally it is pointed out that the depth of the transition zone, and its evaporative evolution during flares may be derivable from its effect on the HXR spectrum.     

Interpreting Yohkoh hard and soft X-ray flare observations

A simple model is presented to account for theYohkoh flare observations of Feldmanet al. (1994), and Masuda (1994). Electrons accelerated by the flare are assumed to encounter the dense, small regions observed by Feldmanet al. at the tops of impulsively flaring coronal magnetic loops. The values of electron density and volume inferred by Feldmanet al. imply that these dense regions present an intermediate thick-thin target to the energised electrons. Specifically, they present a thick (thin) target to electrons with energy much less (greater) thanE _c , where 15 keV <E _c < 40 keV. The electrons are either stopped at the loop top or precipitate down the field lines of the loop to the footpoints. Collisional losses of the electrons at the loop top produce the heating observed by Feldmanet al. and also some hard X-rays. It is argued that this is the mechanism for the loop-top hard X-ray sources observed in limb flares by Masuda. Adopting a simple model for the energy losses of electrons traversing the dense region and the ambient loop plasma, hard X-ray spectra are derived for the loop-top source, the footpoint sources and the region between the loop top and footpoints. These spectra are compared with the observations of Masuda. The model spectra are found to qualitatively agree with the data, and in particular account for the observed steepening of the loop-top and footpoint spectra between 14 and 53 keV and the relative brightnesses of the loop-top and footpoint sources.     

RHESSI Observations of the Neupert Effect in Three Solar Flares

Previous observations show that in many solar flares there is a causal correlation between the hard X-ray flux and the derivative of the soft X-ray flux. This so-called Neupert effect is indicative of a strong link between the primary energy release to accelerate particles and plasma heating. It suggests a flare model in which the hard X-rays are electron – ion bremsstrahlung produced by energetic electrons as they lose their energy in the lower corona and chromosphere and the soft X-rays are thermal bremsstrahlung from the “chromospheric evaporation” plasma heated by those same electrons. Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) observes in a broad energy band and its high spectral resolution and coverage of the low-energy range allow us to separate the thermal continuum from the nonthermal component, which gives us an opportunity to investigate the Neupert effect. In this paper, we use the parameters derived from RHESSI observations to trace the primary energy release and the plasma response: The hard X-ray flux or spectral hardness is compared with the derivative of plasma thermal energy in three impulsive flares on 10 November 2002 and on 3 and 25 August 2005. High correlations show that the Neupert effect does hold for the two hard X-ray peaks of the 10 November 2002 flare, for the first peaks of the 3 August 2005 flare, and for the beginning period of the 25 August 2005 flare.     

Relativistic electrons from solar flares

Observations of interplanetary relativistic electrons from several solar-flare events monitored through 1964 to mid-1967 are presented. These are the first direct spectral measurements and time histories, made outside the magnetosphere, of solar-flare electrons having relativistic velocities. The 3- to 12-MeV electrons detected have kinetic energies about two orders of magnitude higher than those solar electrons previously studied in space, and measurements of both the time histories and energy spectra for a number of events in the present solar cycle were carried out. These measurements of interplanetary electrons are also directly compared with solar X-ray data and with measurements of related interplanetary solar protons.The time histories of at least four electron events show fits to the typical diffusion picture. A demonstrated similarity between the electron and the medium-energy proton fits for the event of 7 July, in particular, indicates that at these electron energies, but over several orders of magnitude of rigidity, whatever diffusion does take place is very nearly on a velocity, rather than a rigidity or an energy, basis. Diffusion-fit time histories varied as a function of T ₀ also indicate that the electrons in certain flare events originate at times near the X-ray and microwave burst, establishing their likely identity as the same electrons which cause the impulsive radiations. Also, the energy spectra and total numbers of the interplanetary electrons, compared with those of the flare-site electrons calculated from X-ray and microwave measurements, indicate that probably a small fraction of flare electrons escape into interplanetary space.     

Thermal electrons runaway from a hot plasma during a flare in the reverse-current model and their X-ray bremsstrahlung

The behaviour of the thermal electrons escaping from a hot plasma to a cold one during a solar flare is investigated. We suppose that the direct current of fast electrons is compensated by the reverse current of the thermal electrons in ambient plasma. It is shown that the direct current strength is determined only by the regular energy losses due to Coulomb collisions. The reverse-current electric field and the distribution function of fast electrons are found in the form of an approximate analytical solution to the self-consistent kinetic problem of the dynamics of a beam of escaping thermal electrons and its associated reverse current.The reverse-current electric field in solar flares leads to a significant reduction of the convective heat flux carried by fast electrons escaping from the high-temperature plasma to the cold one. The spectrum and polarization of hard X-ray bremsstrahlung, and its spatial distribution along flare loops are calculated and can be used for diagnostics of flare plasmas and escaping electrons.Send offprint requests to B. V. Somov.     

Energetics and morphology of powerful impulsive solar flares

We have studied the energetics of two impulsive solar flares of X-ray class X1.7 by assuming the electrons accelerated in several episodes of energy release to be the main source of plasma heating and reached conclusions about their morphology. The time profiles of the flare plasma temperature, emission measure, and their derivatives, and the intensity of nonthermal X-ray emission are compared; images of the X-ray sources and magnetograms of the flare region at key instants of time have been constructed. Based on a spectral analysis of the hard X-ray emission from RHESSI data and GOES observations of the soft X-ray emission, we have estimated the spatially integrated kinetic power of nonthermal electrons and the change in flare-plasma internal energy by taking into account the heat losses through thermal conduction and radiation and determined the parameters needed for thermal balance. We have established that the electrons accelerated at the beginning of the events with a relatively soft spectrum directly heat up the coronal part of the flare loops, with the increase in emission measure and hard X-ray emission from the chromosphere being negligible. The succeeding episodes of electron acceleration with a harder spectrum have virtually no effect on the temperature rise, but they lead to an increase in emission measure and hard X-ray emission from the footpoints of the flare loops.     

Spectral evolution of microwaves and hard X-rays in the 1989 March 18 flare and its interpretation

We analyze the time variation of microwave spectra and hard X-ray spectra of 1989 March 18, which are obtained from the Solar Array at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) and the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer (HXRBS) on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM), respectively. From this observation, it is noted that the hard X-ray spectra gradually soften over 50–200 keV on-and-after the maximum phase while the microwaves at 1–15 GHz show neither a change in spectral shape nor as rapid a decay as hard X-rays. This leads to decoupling of hard X-rays from the microwaves in the decay phase away from their good correlation seen in the initial rise phase. To interpret this observation, we adopt a view that microwave-emitting particles and hard X-ray particles are physically separated in an inhomogeneous magnetic loop, but linked via interactions with the Whistler waves generated during flares. From this viewpoint, it is argued that the observed decoupling of microwaves from hard X-rays may be due to the different ability of each source region to maintain high energy electrons in response to the Whistler waves passing through the entire loop. To demonstrate this possibility, we solve a Fokker-Planck equation that describes evolution of electrons interacting with the Whistler waves, taking into account the variation of Fokker-Planck coefficients with physical quantities of the background medium. The numerical Fokker-Planck solutions are then used to calculate microwave spectra and hard X-ray spectra for agreement with observations. Our model results are as follows: in a stronger field region, the energy loss by electron escape due to scattering by the waves is greatly enhanced resulting in steep particle distributions that reproduce the observed hard X-ray spectra. In a region with weaker fields and lower density, this loss term is reduced allowing high energy electrons to survive longer so that microwaves can be emitted there in excess of hard X-rays during the decay phase of the flare. Our results based on spectral fitting of a flare event are discussed in comparison with previous studies of microwaves and hard X-rays based on either temporal or spatial information.     

The deduction of energy spectra of non-thermal electrons in flares from the observed dynamic spectra of hard X-ray bursts

The derivation of dynamic spectra of high energy electrons in flares from high resolution hard X-ray observations is considered. It is shown that the Bethe-Heitler formula for the electronproton bremsstrahlung cross-section over the 20–100 keV range of energies admits of a general analytic solution for the electron spectrum in terms of the X-ray spectrum, in a form convenient for computation. The bearing of this analysis on different models of flare conditions is considered. In examining the hypothesis that the X-rays are produced in regions of high ambient density, the duration of the burst being governed by modulation of the electron source rather than by the decay of trapped electrons injected impulsively, it is emphasised that the energy spectrum of the electrons at their source is different from their effective spectrum in the X-ray emitting region. This spectrum, at the source, is found to be much steeper than that in the X-ray region which means that the entire energy of the flare could reside in the injected electrons.     

Yohkoh observations of the creation of high-temperature plasma in the flare of 16 December 1991

Yohkoh observations of an impulsive solar flare which occurred on 16 December, 1991 are presented. This flare was a GOES M2.7 class event with a simple morphology indicative of a single flaring loop. X-ray images were taken with the Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT) and soft X-ray spectra were obtained with the Bragg Crystal Spectrometer (BCS) on board the satellite. The spectrometer observations were made at high sensivity from the earliest stages of the flare, are continued throughout the rise and decay phases, and indicate extremely strong blueshifts, which account for the majority of emission in Caxix during the initial phase of the flare. The data are compared with observations from other space and ground-based instruments. A balance calculation is performed which indicates that the energy contained in non-thermal electrons is sufficient to explain the high temperature plasma which fills the loop. The cooling of this plasma by thermal conduction is independently verified in a manner which indicates that the loop filling factor is close to 100%. The production of superhot plasma in impulsive events is shown to differ in detail from the morphology and mechanisms appropriate for more gradual events.     

Dynamics and energetics of the thermal and nonthermal components in the solar flare of January 20, 2005, based on data from hard electromagnetic radiation detectors onboard the CORONAS-F satellite

Based on data from the SONG and SPR-N multichannel hard electromagnetic radiation detectors onboard the CORONAS-F space observatory and the X-ray monitors onboard GOES satellites, we have distinguished the thermal and nonthermal components in the X-ray spectrum of an extreme solar flare on January 20, 2005. In the impulsive flare phase determined from the time of the most efficient electron and proton acceleration, we have obtained parameters of the spectra for both components and their variations in the time interval 06:43–06:54 UT. The spectral index in the energy range 0.2–2 MeV for a single-power-law spectrum of accelerated electrons is shown to have been close to 3.4 for most of the time interval under consideration. We have determined the time dependence of the lower energy cutoff in the energy spectrum of nonthermal photons E _γ0(t) at which the spectral flux densities of the thermal and nonthermal components become equal. The power deposited by accelerated electrons into the flare volume has been estimated using the thick-target model under two assumptions about the boundary energy E ₀ of the electron spectrum: (i) E ₀ is determined by E _γ0(t) and (ii) E ₀ is determined by the characteristic heated plasma energy (≈5kT (t)). The reality of the first assumption is proven by the fact that plasma cooling sets in at a time when the radiative losses begin to prevail over the power deposited by electrons only in this case. Comparison of the total energy deposited by electrons with a boundary energy E _γ0(t) with the thermal energy of the emitting plasma in the time interval under consideration has shown that the total energy deposited by accelerated electrons at the beginning of the impulsive flare phase before 06:47 UT exceeds the thermal plasma energy by a factor of 1.5–2; subsequently, these energies become approximately equal and are ～(4–5) × 10³⁰ erg under the assumption that the filling factor is 0.5–0.6.     

Reverse-current effect in present-day models of solar flares: Theory and high-accuracy observations

We propose an accurate analytical model for the source of hard X-ray emission from a flare in the form of a “thick target” with a reverse current to explain the results of present-day observations of solar flares onboard the GOES, Hinode, RHESSI, and TRACE satellites. The model, one-dimensional in coordinate space and two-dimensional in velocity space, self-consistently takes into account the fact that the beam electrons lose the kinetic energy of their motion along the magnetic field almost without any collisions under the action of the reverse-current electric field. Some of the electrons return from the emission source to the acceleration region without losing the kinetic energy of their transverse motion. Based on the observed hard X-ray bremsstrahlung spectrum, the model allows the injection spectrum of accelerated electrons to be reconstructed with a high accuracy. As an example, we consider the white-light flare of December 6, 2006, which was observed with a high spatial resolution in the optical wavelength range at the main maximum of hard X-ray emission. Within the framework of our model, we show that to explain the hard X-ray spectrum, the flux density of the energy transferred by electrons with energies above 18 keV was ～3 × 10¹³ erg cm^?2 s^?1. This exceeds the habitual values typical of the classical model of a thick target without a reverse current by two orders of magnitude. The electron density in the beam is also very high: ～10¹¹ cm^?3. A more careful consideration of plasma processes in such dense electron beams is needed when the physical parameters of a flare are calculated.     

Non-thermal processes in large solar flares

We analyze particle acceleration processes in large solar flares, using observations of the August, 1972, series of large events. The energetic particle populations are estimated from the hard X-ray and γ-ray emission, and from direct interplanetary particle observations. The collisional energy losses of these particles are computed as a function of height, assuming that the particles are accelerated high in the solar atmosphere and then precipitate down into denser layers. We compare the computed energy input with the flare energy output in radiation, heating, and mass ejection, and find for large proton event flares that:

1. The ～10–10² keV electrons accelerated during the flash phase constitute the bulk of the total flare energy.
2. The flare can be divided into two regions depending on whether the electron energy input goes into radiation or explosive heating. The computed energy input to the radiative quasi-equilibrium region agrees with the observed flare energy output in optical, UV, and EUV radiation.
3. The electron energy input to the explosive heating region can produce evaporation of the upper chromosphere needed to form the soft X-ray flare plasma.
4. Very intense energetic electron fluxes can provide the energy and mass for interplanetary shock wave by heating the atmospheric gas to energies sufficient to escape the solar gravitational and magnetic fields. The threshold for shock formation appears to be ～10³¹ ergs total energy in >20 keV electrons, and all of the shock energy can be supplied by electrons if their spectrum extends down to 5–10 keV.
5. High energy protons are accelerated later than the 10–10² keV electrons and most of them escape to the interplanetary medium. The energetic protons are not a significant contributor to the energization of flare phenomena. The observations are consistent with shock-wave acceleration of the protons and other nuclei, and also of electrons to relativistic energies.
6. The flare white-light continuum emission is consistent with a model of free-bound transitions in a plasma with strong non-thermal ionization produced in the lower solar chromosphere by energetic electrons. The white-light continuum is inconsistent with models of photospheric heating by the energetic particles. A threshold energy of ～5×10³⁰ ergs in >20 keV electrons is required for detectable white-light emission.

The highly efficient electron energization required in these flares suggests that the flare mechanism consists of rapid dissipation of chromospheric and coronal field-aligned or sheet currents, due to the onset of current-driven Buneman anomalous resistivity. Large proton flares then result when the energy input from accelerated electrons is sufficient to form a shock wave.     

Nonthermal electrons in the thick-target reverse-current model for hard X-ray bremsstrahlung

The behaviour of the accelerated electrons escaping from a high-temperature source of primary energy in a solar flare is investigated. The direct current of fast electrons is supposed to be balanced by the reverse current of thermal electrons in the ambient colder plasma inside flare loops. The self-consistent kinetic problem is formulated; and the reverse-current electric field and the fast electron distribution function are found from its solution. The X-ray bremsstrahlung polarization is then calculated from the distribution function. The difference of results from those in the case of thermal runaway electrons (Diakonov and Somov, 1988) is discussed. The solutions with and without account of the affect of a reverse-current electric field are also compared.     

First Images of Impulsive Millimeter Emission and Spectral Analysis of the 1994 August 18 Solar Flare

We present here the first images of impulsive millimeter emission of a flare. The flare on 1994 August 18 was simultaneously observed at millimeter (86 GHz), microwave (1-18 GHz), and soft and hard X-ray wavelengths. Images of millimeter, soft and hard X-ray emission show the same compact ( 8) source. Both the impulsive and the gradual phases are studied in order to determine the emission mechanisms. During the impulsive phase, the radio spectrum was obtained by combining the millimeter with simultaneous microwave emission. Fitting the nonthermal radio spectra as gyrosynchrotron radiation from a homogeneous source model with constant magnetic field yields the physical properties of the flaring source, that is, total number of electrons, power-law index of the electron energy distribution, and the nonthermal source size. These results are compared to those obtained from the hard X-ray spectra. The energy distribution of the energetic electrons inferred from the hard X-ray and radio spectra is found to follow a double power-law with slope 6–8 below 50 keV and 3–4 above those energies. The temporal evolution of the electron energy spectrum and its implication for the acceleration mechanism are discussed. Comparison of millimeter and soft X-ray emissions during the gradual phase implies that the millimeter emission is free-free radiation from the same hot soft X-ray emitting plasma, and further suggests that the flare source contains multiple temperatures.     

Multi-Wavelength Analysis of High-Energy Electrons in Solar Flares: A Case Study of the August 20, 2002 Flare

A multi-wavelength spatial and temporal analysis of solar high-energy electrons is conducted using the August 20, 2002 flare of an unusually flat (γ₁ = 1.8) hard X-ray spectrum. The flare is studied using RHESSI, Hα, radio, TRACE, and MDI observations with advanced methods and techniques never previously applied in the solar flare context. A new method to account for X-ray Compton backscattering in the photosphere (photospheric albedo) has been used to deduce the primary X-ray flare spectra. The mean electron flux distribution has been analysed using both forward fitting and model-independent inversion methods of spectral analysis. We show that the contribution of the photospheric albedo to the photon spectrum modifies the calculated mean electron flux distribution, mainly at energies below ∼100 keV. The positions of the Hα emission and hard X-ray sources with respect to the current-free extrapolation of the MDI photospheric magnetic field and the characteristics of the radio emission provide evidence of the closed geometry of the magnetic field structure and the flare process in low altitude magnetic loops. In agreement with the predictions of some solar flare models, the hard X-ray sources are located on the external edges of the Hα emission and show chromospheric plasma heated by the non-thermal electrons. The fast changes of Hα intensities are located not only inside the hard X-ray sources, as expected if they are the signatures of the chromospheric response to the electron bombardment, but also away from them.     

Initial phase of chromospheric evaporation in a solar flare

In this paper we discuss the initial phase of chromospheric evaporation during a solar flare observed with instruments on the Solar Maximum Mission on May 21, 1980 at 20:53 UT. Images of the flaring region taken with the Hard X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer in the energy bands from 3.5 to 8 keV and from 16 to 30 keV show that early in the event both the soft and hard X-ray emissions are localized near the footpoints, while they are weaker from the rest of the flaring loop system. This implies that there is no evidence for heating taking place at the top of the loops, but energy is deposited mainly at their base. The spectral analysis of the soft X-ray emission detected with the Bent Crystal Spectrometer evidences an initial phase of the flare, before the impulsive increase in hard X-ray emission, during which most of the thermal plasma at 10⁷ K was moving toward the observer with a mean velocity of about 80 km s^-1. At this time the plasma was highly turbulent. In a second phase, in coincidence with the impulsive rise in hard X-ray emission during the major burst, high-velocity (370 km s^-1) upward motions were observed. At this time, soft X-rays were still predominantly emitted near the loop footpoints. The energy deposition in the chromosphere by electrons accelerated in the flare region to energies above 25 keV, at the onset of the high-velocity upflows, was of the order of 4 × 10¹⁰ erg s^-1 cm^-2. These observations provide further support for interpreting the plasma upflows as the mechanism responsible for the formation of the soft X-ray flare, identified with chromospheric evaporation. Early in the flare soft X-rays are mainly from evaporating material close to the footpoints, while the magnetically confined coronal region is at lower density. The site where upflows originate is identified with the base of the loop system. Moreover, we can conclude that evaporation occurred in two regimes: an initial slow evaporation, observed as a motion of most of the thermal plasma, followed by a high-speed evaporation lasting as long as the soft X-ray emission of the flare was increasing, that is as long as plasma accumulation was observed in corona.     

Evolution of a flaring loop after injection of energetic electrons

For the November 5, 1980 flare it is investigated how the plasma in a large flaring loop responds to the injection of energetic electrons. Observations are compared with the results of a one-dimensional numerical simulation. For the simulation it is assumed that at the time the injection is started, the plasma is in an equilibrium state with a constant pressure along the loop and conductive heating compensated by radiative losses. Especially important for the evolution of the impulsively heated plasma is the penetration depth of the fast electrons compared to the depth of the transition layer. Both parameters are known from the observations. The injected energy is 2.6 × 10¹¹ ergs cm ^?2 in 30 s (as derived from the hard X-ray observations) and computations show that the high temperature plasma of the loop responds to it with upward motions of about 50 km s^?1, i.e. with velocities much smaller than the ion sound speed (≈ 500km s^?1). The heating of the plasma due to the absorption of beam energy can be understood using a constant density approximation. After the heating phase the plasma returns in about 5 min to its initial state by conductive cooling. The downward conducted energy is radiated away in the transition zone. The numerical simulation shows that impulsive heating by non-thermal electrons only does not explain the observed large increase in the density of the loop during the flare. It is therefore required that continuous energy and/or mass input occur after the impulsive phase.