Solar flares and energetic particles

Abstract

Solar flares are now observed at all wavelengths from γ-rays to decametre radio waves. They are commonly associated with efficient production of energetic particles at all energies. These particles play a major role in the active Sun because they contain a large amount of the energy released during flares. Energetic electrons and ions interact with the solar atmosphere and produce high-energy X-rays and γ-rays. Energetic particles can also escape to the corona and interplanetary medium, produce radio emissions (electrons) and may eventually reach the Earth's orbit. I shall review here the available information on energetic particles provided by X-ray/γ-ray observations, with particular emphasis on the results obtained recently by the mission Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. I shall also illustrate how radio observations contribute to our understanding of the electron acceleration sites and to our knowledge on the origin and propagation of energetic particles in the interplanetary medium. I shall finally briefly review some recent progress in the theories of particle acceleration in solar flares and comment on the still challenging issue of connecting particle acceleration processes to the topology of the complex magnetic structures present in the corona.