Solar release time of solar energetic particles and associated acceleration source in corona

Abstract

Solar energetic particles (SEPs) are accelerated in corona at an early phase of solar energetic particle events (SEPE). The acceleration mechanism of SEPs in corona can only be inferred from an analysis of multi-band observational data, as the observation of SEPs is usually made around 1AU. In this context, people have investigated spectrums, charge state, solar release time (SRT), and multi-band data of SEPEs, in an attempt to judge the acceleration mechanism of SEPs. The SRT computation of SEPs is an important and commonly used approach to study the acceleration mechanism of SEPs in corona. This paper reviews some important findings concerning the SRT computation of SEPs, and analyzes different merits of each approach for such calculation, based on a range of SEPE case studies. This paper also analyzes and discusses both possible and actual acceleration mechanisms of a number of SEPEs, by calculating the SRT of the SEPEs. Finally, the paper summarizes the possible problems in studying an acceleration mechanism of SEPEs inferred from the SRT of SEP.