Effects of Compton Scattering on the Gamma-Ray Spectra of Solar Flares (original) (raw)
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The hard X-rays and gamma rays from solar flares
The Astrophysical Journal, 1990
Radiation of energies from 10 keV to greater than 10 MeV has been observed during solar flares, and is interpreted to be due to bremsstrahlung by relativistic electrons. A complete treatment of this problem requires solution of the kinetic equation for relativistic electrons and inclusion of synchrotron energy losses. Using the elctron distributions obtained from numerical solutions of this equation the bremsstrahlung spectra in the impulsive X-ray and y-ray regimes are calculated, and the variation of these spectral indices and directivities with energy and observation angle are described. The dependences of these characteristics of the radiation of changes in the solar atmospheric model, including the convergence of the magnetic field, the injected electron spectral index, and most importantly, in the anisotropy of the injected electrons and the of convergence of the magnetic field are also described. The model results are compared with stereoscopic observations of individual flares and the constraints that this data sets on the models are discussed.
Solar Physics, 2005
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.
Gamma-ray and microwave evidence for two phases of acceleration in solar flares
Solar Physics, 1976
Relativistic electrons in large solar flares produce gamma-ray continuum by bremsstrahlung and microwave emission by gyrosynchrotron radiation. Using observations of the 1972, August 4 flare, we evaluate in detail the electron spectrum and the physical properties (density, magnetic field, size, and temperature) of the common emitting region of these radiations. We also obtain information on energetic protons in this flare by using gamma-ray lines. From the electron spectrum, the proton-toelectron ratio, and the time dependences of the microwave emission, the 2.2 MeV line and the gamma-ray continuum, we conclude that in large solar flares relativistic electrons and energetic nuclei are accelerated by a mechanism which is different from the mechanism which accelerates~< 100 keV electrons in flares.
Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2010
Aims. The paper aims are to simulate steady-state distributions of electrons beams precipitating in collisional and Ohmic losses with pitch angle anisotropy into a flaring atmosphere with converging magnetic field and to apply these to the interpretation of HXR photon spectra, directivity and polarization observed for different photon energies and flare positions on the solar disk. Methods. Summary approximation method is applied to a time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation by splitting the temporal derivative equally between the derivatives in depth, energy and pitch angles and finding the solutions in forward and backward directions for each variable. Results. For softer beams, there is a noticeable flattening of the photon spectra at lower energies caused by the self-induced electric field that increases for larger viewing angles. For the models with an electric field, the HXR emission with lower energies (30 keV) becomes directed mainly upwards at upper atmospheric levels owing to the increased number of particles moving upwards, while in deeper layers it again becomes directed downwards. The polarization maximum shifts to higher energies with every precipitation depth approaching 25 keV for the models with pure collisions and 100 keV for the models with return currents. At deeper layers, the polarization decreases because of the isotropization of electrons by collisions. The maximum polarization is observed at the viewing angle of 90 • , becoming shifted to lower angles for softer beams. The integrated polarization and directivity shows a dependence on a magnetic field convergence for harder beams, while for softer beams the directivity is strongly affected by the self-induced electric field changing from a downward motion to an upward one at upper atmospheric depths. Conclusions. The proposed precipitation model for an electron beam with wider pitch angle dispersion of 0.2 taking into account collisional and Ohmic losses allowed us to fit the double power law HXR photon spectra with a spectrum flattening at lower energies observed in the flares of 20 and 23 July 2002. The observed directivity of HXR photons of 20 keV derived for a large number of flares located from the disk center to limb is also reproduced well by the theoretical directivity calculated for an electron beam with a very narrow pitch angle dispersion of 0.02. The simulated polarization of this narrowly-directed electron beam fits up to 90% of all the available polarimetric observations carried out at various locations across the solar disk.
FIRST DETECTION OF >100 MeV GAMMA-RAYS ASSOCIATED WITH A BEHIND-THE-LIMB SOLAR FLARE
The Astrophysical Journal, 2015
We report the first detection of >100 MeV gamma rays associated with a behind-the-limb solar flare, which presents a unique opportunity to probe the underlying physics of high-energy flare emission and particle acceleration. On 2013 October 11 a GOES M1.5 class solar flare occurred ∼ 9 • .9 behind the solar limb as observed by STEREO-B. RHESSI observed hard X-ray emission above the limb, most likely from the flare loop-top, as the footpoints were occulted. Surprisingly, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detected >100 MeV gamma-rays for ∼30 minutes with energies up to 3 GeV. The LAT emission centroid is consistent with the RHESSI hard X-ray source, but its uncertainty does not constrain the source to be located there. The gamma-ray spectra can be adequately described by bremsstrahlung radiation from relativistic electrons having a relatively hard power-law spectrum with a high-energy exponential cutoff, or by the decay of pions produced by accelerated protons and ions with an isotropic pitch-angle distribution and a power-law spectrum with a number index of ∼3.8. We show that high optical depths rule out the gamma rays originating from the flare site and a high-corona trap model requires very unusual conditions, so a scenario in which some of the particles accelerated by the CME shock travel to the visible side of the Sun to produce the observed gamma rays may be at work.
Directivity of bremsstrahlung radiation from relativistic beams and the gamma rays from solar flares
The Astrophysical Journal, 1985
It has been observed that flares with greater than 10 Mev gamma-ray emission are concentrated around the solar limb with a dispersion of 10 to 20 degrees. It is shown that the bremsstrahlung by relativistic electrons is responsible for such gamma-rays and that the expected relativistic beaming cannot explain this dispersion. It is argued that this dispersion is predominately a reflection of the pitch angle distribution of the electrons. Then it is shown that this requires a small variation of the magnetic field from the point where the electrons are infected to the photosphere and a nearly isotropic (in the downward direction) pitch angle distribution at the injection. The influence of other effects on the observed distribution is also briefly discussed.
Gamma radiation and photospheric white-light flare continuum
Solar Physics, 1982
Recent gamma-ray observations of solar flares have provided a better means for estimating the heating of the solar atmosphere by energetic protons. Such heating has been suggested as the explanation of the continuum emission of the white-light flare. We have analyzed the effects on the photosphere of high-energy particles capable of producing the intense gamma-ray emission observed in the 1978 July 11 flare. Using a simple energy-balance argument and taking into account hydrogen ionization, we have obtained the following conclusions: (1) Heating near ~'5ooo = 1 in the input HSRA model atmosphere is negligible, even for very high fluxes of energetic particles. (2) Energy deposition increases with height for the inferred proton spectra, and does not depend strongly upon the assumed angle of incidence. The computed energy inputs fall in the range 10-100 ergs (cm 3 s)-1 at the top of the photosphere. (3) H-continuum dominates for column densities as small as 1022cm-3, but at greater heights hydrogen ionizes sufficiently for the higher continua to dominate the energy balance. (4) The total energy deposited in the 'photospheric' region of H-dominance could be within a factor of 3 of the necessary energy deposition, by comparison with the white-light flare of 1972 August 7, but the emergent spectrum is quite red so that the intensity excess in the visible band is insufficient to explain the observations. In summary, it remains energetically possible, within observational limits, that high-energy protons could cause sufficient heating of the upper photosphere to produce detectable excess continuum, but emission from the vicinity of z = 1 is not significant.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2014
We present the detections of 19 solar flares detected in high-energy gamma rays (above 100 MeV) with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) during its first four years of operation. Interestingly, all flares are associated with fairly fast Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and are not all powerful X-ray flares. We then describe the detailed temporal, spatial and spectral characteristics of the first two long-lasting events: the 2011 March 7 flare, a moderate (M3.7) impulsive flare followed by slowly varying gamma-ray emission over 13 hours, and the 2011 June 7 M2.5 flare, which was followed by gamma-ray emission lasting for 2 hours. We compare the Fermi-LAT data with X-ray and proton data measurements from GOES and RHESSI. We argue that a hadronic origin of the gamma rays is more likely than a leptonic origin and find that the energy spectrum of the proton distribution softens after the 2011 March 7 flare, favoring a scenario with continuous acceleration at the flare site. This work suggests that proton acceleration in solar flares is more common than previously thought, occurring for even modest X-ray flares, and for longer durations.
Diagnostics of energetic electrons with anisotropic distributions in solar flares
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2010
Aims. The paper aims are to simulate steady-state distributions of electrons beams precipitating in collisional and Ohmic losses with pitch angle anisotropy into a flaring atmosphere with converging magnetic field and to apply these to the interpretation of HXR photon spectra, directivity and polarization observed for different photon energies and flare positions on the solar disk. Methods. Summary approximation method is applied to a time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation by splitting the temporal derivative equally between the derivatives in depth, energy and pitch angles and finding the solutions in forward and backward directions for each variable. Results. For softer beams, there is a noticeable flattening of the photon spectra at lower energies caused by the self-induced electric field that increases for larger viewing angles. For the models with an electric field, the HXR emission with lower energies (30 keV) becomes directed mainly upwards at upper atmospheric levels owing to the increased number of particles moving upwards, while in deeper layers it again becomes directed downwards. The polarization maximum shifts to higher energies with every precipitation depth approaching 25 keV for the models with pure collisions and 100 keV for the models with return currents. At deeper layers, the polarization decreases because of the isotropization of electrons by collisions. The maximum polarization is observed at the viewing angle of 90 • , becoming shifted to lower angles for softer beams. The integrated polarization and directivity shows a dependence on a magnetic field convergence for harder beams, while for softer beams the directivity is strongly affected by the self-induced electric field changing from a downward motion to an upward one at upper atmospheric depths. Conclusions. The proposed precipitation model for an electron beam with wider pitch angle dispersion of 0.2 taking into account collisional and Ohmic losses allowed us to fit the double power law HXR photon spectra with a spectrum flattening at lower energies observed in the flares of 20 and 23 July 2002. The observed directivity of HXR photons of 20 keV derived for a large number of flares located from the disk center to limb is also reproduced well by the theoretical directivity calculated for an electron beam with a very narrow pitch angle dispersion of 0.02. The simulated polarization of this narrowly-directed electron beam fits up to 90% of all the available polarimetric observations carried out at various locations across the solar disk.
Energetic (HXR/GR) Emission from Flares: Implication for Particle Acceleration and Transport
2014
This paper reviews a selection of observations in hard X-rays (HXR) and gamma-rays (GR) that allow us to derive quantitative constraints on the energetic electrons and ions accelerated during solar flares. We shall focus on the results obtained for the relative energy contents in electrons and ions in strong gamma-ray line (GRL) events as well as on the chemical composition of accelerated ions. We shall discuss new estimates of the upper limit of the energy contained in ions for electron-dominated events and briefly summarize new results concerning the relationship found between centimetric-millimetric emitting electrons and HXR/GR bremsstrahlung emitting ones.