A note on the mechanism of broad band absorptions and emissions in the type IV decimeter continuum

Abstract

The broad band absorptions and emissions in the type IV decimeter continuum are remarkable for the simultaneity of their occurrence at widely different frequencies and for their very short durations. During a given event there is a continuous succession of different patterns of broad band features. It is suggested that the different aspects of the broad band features are variations on a common underlying process. The process would seem to be the screening of a large part of the outgoing beam of radiation, which supposedly is ducted along a tube or channel of relatively low density. As an agency which causes the screening, one may think of shocks or solitons that impinge transversaly on the channel along which the radiation propagates. The various patterns of broad band absorptions and emissions would then be related to structural features of series or trains of passing shocks and/or solitons.