Abstract
Abstract The maximum entropy formalism is used to infer the spectral index of power-law particle spectra in the heliosphere. The entropy-maximization argument by Brown et al. is revisited and generalized by relaxing the assumption of a particle spectrum extending to an infinite energy. The results for particle spectra with a finite upper cutoff energy are shown to be qualitatively different from those for spectra extending to infinity. The dependence of the predicted spectral index on the upper cutoff energy is determined. The relevance of the predicted values of the spectral index to the observed spectra of accelerated electrons in solar flares and ion tails in the solar wind is discussed.
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