Association between gradual hard X-Ray emission and metric continua during large flares

X-ray radiation is used to study coronal phenomena in conjunction with meter wave observations during some large solar flares. It is found that metric flare continua and moving type IV bursts are associated with gradual and long lasting (a few tens of minutes) microwave and hard X-ray emissions. The detailed temporal analysis reveals that although metric and hard X-ray sources are located at very different heights, both kinds of emission result from a common and continuous/repetitive injection of electrons in the corona. The late part of the metric event (stationary type IV burst) is only associated with soft X-ray radiation. This indicates that the mean energy of the radiating electrons is lower during stationary type IV bursts than during the earlier parts of the event.     

Propagation and confinement of energetic electrons in solar flares

The propagation, cofinement and total energy of energetic (>25 keV) electrons in solar flares are examined through a brief review of the following hard X-ray measurements: (1) spatially resolved observations obtained by imaging instruments; (2) stereoscopic observations of partially occulted sources providing radial (vertical) spatial resolution; and (3) directivity of the emission measured through stereoscopic observations and the center-to-limb variation of the occurrence frequency of hard X-ray flares. The characteristics of the energetic electrons are found to be quite distinct in impulsive and gradual hard X-ray flares. In impulsive flares the non-thermal electron spectrum seems to extend down to 2 keV indicating that the total energy of non-thermal electrons is much larger than that assumed in the past.     

Nonthermal Electron Energy Deposition in the Chromosphere and the Accompanying Soft x-ray Flare Emission

We analyse four solar flares which have energetic hard X-ray emissions, but unusually low soft X-ray flux and GOES class (C1.0–C5.5). These are compared with two other flares that have soft and hard X-ray emission consistent with a generally observed correlation that shows increasing hard X-ray accompanied by increasing soft X-ray flux. We find that in the four small flares only a small percentage of the nonthermal electron beam energy is deposited in a location where the heating rate of the electron beam exceeds the radiative cooling rate of the ambient plasma. Most of the beam energy is subsequently radiated away into the cool chromosphere and so cannot power chromospheric evaporation thus reducing the soft X-ray emission. We also demonstrate that in the four small flares the nonthermal electron beam energy is insufficient to power the soft X-ray emitting plasma. We deduce that an additional energy source is required, and this could be provided by a DC-electric field (where quasi-static electric field channels in the coronal loops accelerate electrons, and those electrons with velocity below a critical velocity will heat the ambient plasma via Joule heating) in preference to a loop-top thermal source (where heat flux deposited in the corona is conducted along magnetic field lines to the chromosphere, heating the coronal plasma and giving rise to further chromospheric evaporation).     

Radio Emission of Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections

We review recent progress on our understanding of radio emission from solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with emphasis on those aspects of the subject that help us address questions about energy release and its properties, the configuration of flare?–?CME source regions, coronal shocks, particle acceleration and transport, and the origin of solar energetic particle (SEP) events. Radio emission from electron beams can provide information about the electron acceleration process, the location of injection of electrons in the corona, and the properties of the ambient coronal structures. Mildly relativistic electrons gyrating in the magnetic fields of flaring loops produce radio emission via the gyrosynchrotron mechanism, which provides constraints on the magnetic field and the properties of energetic electrons. CME detection at radio wavelengths tracks the eruption from its early phase and reveals the participation of a multitude of loops of widely differing scale. Both flares and CMEs can ignite shock waves and radio observations offer the most robust tool to study them. The incorporation of radio data into the study of SEP events reveals that a clear-cut distinction between flare-related and CME-related SEP events is difficult to establish.     

Energies of Electrons Accelerated in Turbulent Reconnecting Current Sheets in Solar Flares

Yohkoh observations strongly suggest that electron acceleration in solar flares occurs in magnetic reconnection regions in the corona above the soft X-ray flare loops. Unfortunately, models for particle acceleration in reconnecting current sheets predict electron energy gains in terms of the reconnection electric field and the thickness of the sheet, both of which are extremely difficult to measure. It can be shown, however, that application of Ohm's law in a turbulent current sheet, combined with energy and Maxwell's equations, leads to a formula for the electron energy gain in terms of the flare power output, the magnetic field strength, the plasma density and temperature in the sheet, and its area. Typical flare parameters correspond to electron energies between a few tens of keV and a few MeV. The calculation supports the viewpoint that electrons that generate the continuum gamma-ray and hard X-ray emissions in impulsive solar flares are accelerated in a large-scale turbulent current sheet above the soft X-ray flare loops.     

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.     

High-energy observations of solar flares

Extensive observations of solar flares made in high energy bands during the maximum of the present solar cycle are discussed with a special reference to the results from HINOTORI, and with attention to the relevant flare models. The hard X-ray (HXR) images from HINOTORI showed mostly coronal emission at 20–25 keV suggesting that the HXR is emitted from multiple coronal loops, consistent with the non-thermal electron beam model in a high density corona. The thermal HXR model seems to be inconsistent with some observations. Three types of flares which have been classified from the Hinotori results are described, along with newly discovered hot thermal component of 30–40 million K which contributes thermal HXR emission. A summary is given for the characteristics of the energy release in an impulsive burst; and an empirical model is described, which explains simultaneous energy releases in multiple loops and successive movements of the release site as suggested from the HXR morphology. The discovery of large blue-shifted hot plasma from the soft X-ray line spectrum leads to some quantitative arguments for the evaporating flare model. An electron-heated flare atmosphere appears to explain various observations consistently.Invited paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Comparison of the Fermi and betatron acceleration efficiencies in collapsing magnetic traps

The acceleration of charged particles in the solar corona during flares is investigated in terms of a model in which the electrons and ions preaccelerated in the magnetic reconnection region are injected into a collapsing magnetic trap. Here, the particle energy increases rapidly simultaneously through the Fermi and betatron mechanisms. Comparison of the efficiencies of the two mechanisms shows that the accelerated electrons in such a trap produce more intense hard X-ray (HXR) bursts than those in a trap where only the Fermi acceleration mechanism would be at work. This effect explains the Yohkoh and RHESSI satellite observations in which HXR sources more intense than the HXR emission from the chromosphere were detected in the corona.     

Acceleration of Relativistic Protons During the 20 January 2005 Flare and CME

The origin of relativistic solar protons during large flare/CME events has not been uniquely identified so far. We perform a detailed comparative analysis of the time profiles of relativistic protons detected by the worldwide network of neutron monitors at Earth with electromagnetic signatures of particle acceleration in the solar corona during the large particle event of 20 January 2005. The intensity – time profile of the relativistic protons derived from the neutron monitor data indicates two successive peaks. We show that microwave, hard X-ray, and γ-ray emissions display several episodes of particle acceleration within the impulsive flare phase. The first relativistic protons detected at Earth are accelerated together with relativistic electrons and with protons that produce pion-decay γ rays during the second episode. The second peak in the relativistic proton profile at Earth is accompanied by new signatures of particle acceleration in the corona within ≈1R _⊙ above the photosphere, revealed by hard X-ray and microwave emissions of low intensity and by the renewed radio emission of electron beams and of a coronal shock wave. We discuss the observations in terms of different scenarios of particle acceleration in the corona.     

Hard x-ray and Metric/Decimetric Radio Observations of the 20 February 2002 Solar Flare

The GOES C7.5 flare on 20 February 2002 at 11:07 UT is one of the first solar flares observed by RHESSI at X-ray wavelengths. It was simultaneously observed at metric/decimetric wavelengths by the Nançay radioheliograph (NRH) which provided images of the flare between 450 and 150 MHz. We present a first comparison of the hard X-ray images observed with RHESSI and of the radio emission sites observed by the NRH. This first analysis shows that: (1) there is a close occurrence between the production of the HXR-radiating most energetic electrons and the injection of radio-emitting non-thermal electrons at all heights in the corona, (2) modifications with time in the pattern of the HXR sources above 25 keV and of the decimetric radio sources at 410 MHz are observed occurring on similar time periods, (3) in the late phase of the most energetic HXR peak, a weak radio source is observed at high frequencies, overlying the EUV magnetic loops seen in the vicinity of the X-ray flaring sites above 12 keV. These preliminary results illustrate the potential of combining RHESSI and NRH images for the study of electron acceleration and transport in flares.     

The acceleration of electrons and ions in solar flares

We find that gamma-ray line (GRL) emissions start later than the hard X-ray (HXR) emissions during impulsive and extended solar flares. Starting delay is more in the case of extended solar flares suggesting a slow acceleration of electrons and ions, in comparison to impulsive solar flares which indicate different acceleration mechanism for impulsive and extended solar flares. We further infer that during solar flares, electrons and ions are accelerated simultaneously and the delay between HXR and GRL emissions results mainly due to differences in acceleration times of electrons and ions to attain energies required for producing HXR emissions for electrons and GRL emissions for ions. Therefore, we are of view that a single step acceleration mechanism may work in solar flares.     

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.     

Evidence of Magnetic Reconnection in Solar Flares and a Unified Model of Flares

The solar X-ray observing satellite Yohkoh has discovered various new dynamic features in solar flares and corona, e.g., cusp-shaped flare loops, above-the-loop-top hard X-ray sources, X-ray plasmoid ejections from impulsive flares, transient brightenings (spatially resolved microflares), X-ray jets, large scale arcade formation associated with filament eruption or coronal mass ejections, and so on. It has soon become clear that many of these features are closely related to magnetic reconnection. We can now say that Yohkoh established (at least phenomenologically) the magnetic reconnection model of flares. In this paper, we review various evidence of magnetic reconnection in solar flares and corona, and present unified model of flares on the basis of these new Yohkoh observations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Location of Decimetric Pulsations in Solar Flares

This work investigates the spatial relation between coronal X-ray sources and coherent radio emissions, both generally thought to be signatures of particle acceleration. Two limb events were selected during which the radio emission was well correlated in time with hard X-rays. The radio emissions were of the type of decimetric pulsations as determined from the spectrogram observed by Phoenix-2 of ETH Zurich. The radio positions were measured from observations with the Nançay Radioheliograph between 236 and 432 MHz and compared to the position of the coronal X-ray source imaged with RHESSI. The radio pulsations originated at least 30?–?240 Mm above the coronal hard X-ray source. The altitude of the radio emission increases generally with lower frequency. The average positions at different frequencies are on a line pointing approximately to the coronal hard X-ray source. Thus, the pulsations cannot be caused by electrons trapped in the flare loops, but are consistent with emission from a current sheet above the coronal source.     

Imaging X-ray Polarimeter for Solar Flares (IXPS)

We describe the design of a balloon-borne Imaging X-ray Polarimeter for Solar flares (IXPS). This novel instrument, a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) for photoelectric polarimetry, will be capable of measuring polarization at the few percent level in the 20?C50 keV energy range during an M- or X-class flare, and will provide imaging information at the ??10 arcsec level. The primary objective of such observations is to determine the directivity of nonthermal high-energy electrons producing solar hard X-rays, and hence to learn about the particle acceleration and energy release processes in solar flares. Secondary objectives include the separation of the thermal and nonthermal components of the flare X-ray emissions and the separation of photospheric albedo fluxes from direct emissions.     

Solar Impulsive Hard X-Ray Emission and Two-Stage Electron Acceleration

Heating and acceleration of electrons in solar impulsive hard X-ray (HXR) flares are studied according to the two-stage acceleration model developed by Zhang for solar 3He-rich events. It is shown that electrostatic H-cyclotron waves can be excited at a parallel phase velocity less than about the electron thermal velocity and thus can significantly heat the electrons (up to 40 MK) through Landau resonance. The preheated electrons with velocities above a threshold are further accelerated to high energies in the flare-acceleration process. The flare-produced electron spectrum is obtained and shown to be thermal at low energies and power law at high energies. In the non-thermal energy range, the spectrum can be double power law if the spectral power index is energy dependent or related. The electron energy spectrum obtained by this study agrees quantitatively with the result derived from the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) HXR observations in the flare of 2002 July 23. The total flux and energy flux of electrons accelerated in the solar flare also agree with the measurements.     

The interpretation of hard X-ray polarization measurements in solar flares

We review recent observations of polarization of moderately hard X-rays in solar flares and compare them with the predictions of recent detailed modeling of hard X-ray bremsstrahlung production by non-thermal electrons. We find that the recent advances in the complexity of the modeling lead to substantially lower predicted polarizations than in earlier models and more fully highlight how various parameters play a role in determining the polarization of the radiation field. The new predicted polarizations are comparable to those predicted by thermal modeling of solar flare hard X-ray production, and both are in agreement with the observations. In the light of these results, we propose new polarization observations with current generation instruments which could be used to discriminate between non-thermal and thermal models of hard X-ray production in solar flares.     

Particle Acceleration and Propagation in Strong Flares without Major Solar Energetic Particle Events

Solar energetic particles (SEPs) detected in space are statistically associated with flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). But it is not clear how these processes actually contribute to the acceleration and transport of the particles. The present work addresses the question why flares accompanied by intense soft X-ray bursts may not produce SEPs detected by observations with the GOES spacecraft. We consider all X-class X-ray bursts between 1996 and 2006 from the western solar hemisphere. 21 out of 69 have no signature in GOES proton intensities above 10 MeV, despite being significant accelerators of electrons, as shown by their radio emission at cm wavelengths. The majority (11/20) has no type III radio bursts from electron beams escaping towards interplanetary space during the impulsive flare phase. Together with other radio properties, this indicates that the electrons accelerated during the impulsive flare phase remain confined in the low corona. This occurs in flares with and without a CME. Although GOES saw no protons above 10 MeV at geosynchronous orbit, energetic particles were detected in some (4/11) confined events at Lagrangian point L1 aboard ACE or SoHO. These events have, besides the confined microwave emission, dm-m wave type II and type IV bursts indicating an independent accelerator in the corona. Three of them are accompanied by CMEs. We conclude that the principal reason why major solar flares in the western hemisphere are not associated with SEPs is the confinement of particles accelerated in the impulsive phase. A coronal shock wave or the restructuring of the magnetically stressed corona, indicated by the type II and IV bursts, can explain the detection of SEPs when flare-accelerated particles do not reach open magnetic field lines. But the mere presence of these radio signatures, especially of a metric type II burst, is not a sufficient condition for a major SEP event.     

Effect of Collisions and Magnetic Convergence on Electron Acceleration and Transport in Reconnecting Twisted Solar Flare Loops

We study a model of particle acceleration coupled with an MHD model of magnetic reconnection in unstable twisted coronal loops. The kink instability leads to the formation of helical currents with strong parallel electric fields resulting in electron acceleration. The motion of electrons in the electric and magnetic fields of the reconnecting loop is investigated using a test-particle approach taking into account collisional scattering. We discuss the effects of Coulomb collisions and magnetic convergence near loop footpoints on the spatial distribution and energy spectra of high-energy electron populations and possible implications on the hard X-ray emission in solar flares.     

Microwave and hard X-ray bursts from solar flares

We have applied detailed theories of gyro-synchrotron emission and absorption in a magnetoactive plasma, X-ray production by the bremsstrahlung of non-thermal electrons on ambient hydrogen, and electron relaxation in a partially ionized and magnetized gas to the solar flare burst phenomenon. The hard X-ray and microwave bursts are shown to be consistent with a single source of non-thermal electrons, where both emissions arise from electrons with energies < mc ². Further-more, the experimental X-ray and microwave data allow us to deduce the properties of the electron distribution, and the values of the ambient magnetic field, the hydrogen density, and the size of the emitting region. The proposed model, although derived mostly from observations of the 7 July 1966 flare, is shown to be representative of this type of event.NAS-NRC Resident Research Associate.