Impulsive Solar Energetic Particle Events Research Articles

Helium Suppression in Impulsive Solar Energetic-Particle Events

We have studied the element abundances and energy spectra of the small "He-poor" impulsive solar energetic-particle (SEP) events, comparing them with other impulsive SEP events with more-normal abundances of He. He-poor events can have abundances as low as He/O ~ 2, while both impulsive and gradual SEP events usually have source abundances of 30 < He/O < 100 with mean values of 50 - 60. He/C ratios are not only low, but often decrease with energy in He-poor events. Abundance enhancement patterns of other elements with atomic numbers 6 < Z < 56, and likely values of their mass-to-charge ratios A/Q, are generally unaltered in He-poor events, as are the probable source-plasma temperatures of 2.5 - 3.2 MK for all impulsive SEP events. One He-poor event is also an example of a rarer C-poor event with C/O = 0.08 +- 0.04, sup-pressed by a factor over 5 from the mean. We discuss suggestions of a possible A/Q threshold during acceleration and of the sluggish ionization of He entering the corona, because of its uniquely high first ionization potential (FIP), but the suppression of He and the decline of He/C with energy is difficult to explain if both He and C are fully ionized with A/Q = 2 as expected at 2.5 - 3.2 MK. Although less dramatic, a possible excess enhancement of Ne in some impulsive SEP events is also considered. Possible causes of the large ~30% spectral and abundance variations in impulsive events are also discussed. However, the physics of the He-poor events remains a mystery.

3He-Rich Solar Energetic Particle Events with No Measurable 4He Intensity Increases

We investigated 3He-rich solar energetic particle (SEP) events in the current solar cycle starting in 2009 through 2017. Both “impulsive” (flare-related) 3He-rich and CME-related “gradual” events are included. In the former solar cycle, we found the number of observed 3He-rich events correlated with solar activity. The same correlation is seen again in Cycle 24. Because of the comparatively weak activity, both the occurrence of 3He-rich events and their intensities are significantly less than those from Cycle 23. Interestingly, we found in several of the 3He-rich events that there is no measurable 4He intensity increase above the instrument background. Previously, we found that there is a limit on the number of 3He ions that can be released from the Sun in an impulsive SEP event, while there is no such limit on the 4He ions (Ho, Roelof, and Mason in Astrophys. J., 621, L862, 2005). In this paper, we examine several of these 3He-rich events in detail and discuss the lack of observable 4He intensity increases and the implications for the enhancement and acceleration mechanism of this special type of SEP events.

Spectroscopic EUV observations of impulsive solar energetic particle event sources

Context. Remote observations of solar flare ion acceleration are rather limited. Theoretical predictions for signatures of ion acceleration in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) line profiles have been made. Previous tests involve observations of flares with no evidence for energetic ions. Aims. We aim to examine a source flare of impulsive (or 3He-rich) solar energetic particle events with EUV line spectroscopy. Methods. We inspected all (more than 90) reported 3He-rich flares of the previous solar cycle 23 and found only 4 (recurrent) jets in the field of view of the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The jet with the most suitable spatial and temporal coverage was analyzed in detail. Results. Two enhanced (nonthermal) line broadenings are observed in the cooler chromospheric and transition-region lines, and they are localized near the site where the closed magnetic loops reconnect with the open magnetic field lines. The enhanced broadenings are both found at the sites with redshifts in the lines, surrounded by the region with blueshifts. One enhanced line broadening is associated with a small flare without energetic particle signatures, while another occurs just after the particle acceleration signatures of the main flare terminated. Conclusions. The observed excess broadening does not appear to be directly related to the energetic ion production and motions. Further investigations are required that cover the critical impulsive phase of the flare, ideally with high-resolution spectrometers that are specifically pointed to the 3He-rich solar energetic particle source.

Electron Spectral Breaking Caused by Magnetic Reconnection in Impulsive Flare Events

Abstract Using data from the Wind/3D Plasma and Energetic Particle (3DP) instrument, we have analyzed the energy spectral difference of low-energy electrons between the “impulsive” and “gradual” solar energetic particle (SEP) events during solar cycle 23. Since simulations reveal that in the exhaust of magnetic reconnection sites, electrons could form a beam structure in which the parallel speed is limited by the electron Alfvén speed (V Ae), their spectral steepening should be observable at the electron energy E e, corresponding to V Ae. In addition, the analysis of transversely oscillating coronal loops shows that in the loop-top region, where the reconnection site is located, V Ae corresponds to E e &lt; 15 keV. We hence search for the spectral steepening of electrons in this E e range. In our search we have taken the effect of local particle acceleration at reconnecting current sheets into consideration. The effect may occur in the solar wind and impact the observed time-intensity profiles of SEPs. Our analysis shows that in the impulsive flare event, the electron spectral steepening occurs at E e = 7 ± 2 keV, whereas no steepening is seen in the gradual event. Therefore, the comparison between the impulsive and gradual SEP event lists provided by this work could be important for future investigations of particle acceleration in the corona and the solar wind.

Temperature of Source Regions of 3He-Rich Impulsive Solar Energetic Particle Events

AbstractImpulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events originate from the energy dissipation process in small solar flares. Anomalous abundances in impulsive SEP events provide an evidence on unique, yet unclear, acceleration mechanism. The pattern of heavy-ion enhancements indicates that the temperature of the source plasma that is accelerated is low and not flare-like. We examine the solar source of the 3He-rich SEP event of 2012 November 20 using Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/ Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) images and investigate its thermal variation. The examined event is associated with recurrent coronal jets. The Differential Emission Measure (DEM) analysis is applied to study the temperature evolution/distribution of the source regions. Preliminary results show that the temperature of the associated solar source is ranged between 1.2-3.1 MK.

EVIDENCE FOR ENHANCED 3HE IN FLARE-ACCELERATED PARTICLES BASED ON NEW CALCULATIONS OF THE GAMMA-RAY LINE SPECTRUM

ABSTRACT The 3He abundance in impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events is enhanced up to several orders of magnitude compared to its photospheric value of [3He]/[4He] = 1–3 × 10−4. Interplanetary magnetic field and timing observations suggest that these events are related to solar flares. Observations of 3He in flare-accelerated ions would clarify the relationship between these two phenomena. Energetic 3He interactions in the solar atmosphere produce gamma-ray nuclear-deexcitation lines, both lines that are also produced by protons and α particles and lines that are essentially unique to 3He. Gamma-ray spectroscopy can, therefore, reveal enhanced levels of accelerated 3He. In this paper, we identify all significant deexcitation lines produced by 3He interactions in the solar atmosphere. We evaluate their production cross sections and incorporate them into our nuclear deexcitation-line code. We find that enhanced 3He can affect the entire gamma-ray spectrum. We identify gamma-ray line features for which the yield ratios depend dramatically on the 3He abundance. We determine the accelerated 3He/α ratio by comparing these ratios with flux ratios measured previously from the gamma-ray spectrum obtained by summing the 19 strongest flares observed with the Solar Maximum Mission Gamma-Ray Spectrometer. All six flux ratios investigated show enhanced 3He, confirming earlier suggestions. The 3He/α weighted mean of these new measurements ranges from 0.05 to 0.3 (depending on the assumed accelerated α/proton ratio) and has a &lt;1 × 10−3 probability of being consistent with the photospheric value. With the improved code, we can now exploit the full potential of gamma-ray spectroscopy to establish the relationship between flare-accelerated ions and 3He-rich SEPs.

Element Abundances and Source Plasma Temperatures of Solar Energetic Particles

Thirty years ago Breneman and Stone [1] observed that the enhancement or suppression of element abundances in large solar energetic-particle (SEP) events varies as a power of the mass-to-charge ratio, A/Q, of the elements. Since Q during acceleration or transport may depend upon the source plasma temperature T, the pattern of element enhancements can provide a best-fit measure of T. The small SEP events we call 3He-rich or “impulsive” show average enhancements, relative to coronal abundances, rising as the 3.6 power of A/Q to a factor of ∼1000 for (76<Z<82)/O and temperature in the range 2-4 MK. This acceleration is believed to occur in islands of magnetic reconnection on open field lines in solar flares and jets. It has been recently found that the large shock-accelerated “gradual” SEP events have a broad range of source plasma temperatures; 69% have coronal temperatures of T <1.6 MK, while 24% have T ∼ 3 MK, the latter suggesting a seed population containing residual impulsive suprathermal ions. Most of the large event-to-event abundance variations and their time variation are largely explained by variations in T magnified by A/Q-dependent fractionation during transport. However, the non-thermal variance of impulsive SEP events (∼30%) exceeds that of the ∼3 MK gradual events (∼10%) so that several small impulsive events must be averaged together with the ambient plasma to form the seed population for shock acceleration in these events.

The Origin of Element Abundance Variations in Solar Energetic Particles

Abundance enhancements, during acceleration and transport in both gradual and impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events, vary approximately as power laws in the mass-to-charge ratio [A/Q] of the ions. Since the Q-values depend upon the electron temperature of the source plasma, this has allowed a determination of this temperature from the pattern of element-abundance enhancements and a verification of the expected inverse-time dependence of the power of A/Q for diffusive transport of ions from the SEP events, with scattering mean free paths found to be between 0.2 and 1 AU. SEP events derived from plasma of different temperatures map into different regions in typical cross-plots of abundances, spreading the distributions. In comparisons of SEP events with temperatures above 2 MK, impulsive events show much broader non-thermal variation of abundances than do gradual events. The extensive shock waves accelerating ions in gradual events may average over much of an active region where numerous but smaller magnetic reconnections, "nanojets", produce suprathermal seed ions, thus averaging over varying abundances, while an impulsive SEP event only samples one local region of abundance variations. Evidence for a reference He/O abundance ratio of 91, rather than 57, is also found for the hotter plasma. However, while this is similar to the solar-wind abundance of He/O, the solar-wind abundances otherwise provide an unacceptably poor reference for the SEP abundance enhancements, generating extremely large errors.

Iron-rich solar particle events measured by SOHO/ERNE during two solar cycles

We study the differences in the heavy ion composition of solar energetic particle (SEP) events between solar cycles 23 and 24. We have surveyed the SOHO/ERNE heavy ion data from the beginning of solar cycle 23 until the end of June 2015, that is, well into the declining phase of cycle 24. We used this long observation period to study the properties of heavy ions (from C to Fe) and to compare the two solar cycles in this respect. We surveyed the data for SEP events with enhancements in the Fe/C and Fe/O intensity ratios in the energy range 5-15 MeV per nucleon, and associated the events with solar flare and coronal mass ejections (CME) when possible. We studied the properties of heavy ions in these events and compared the average relative abundances of heavy ions between the two solar cycles. We found that fewer days had C and O intensities higher than ~10$^{-3}$ cm$^{-2}$sr$^{-1}$s$^{-1}$(MeVn$^{-1}$)$^{-1}$ during solar cycle 24 than during cycle 23. For Fe this difference was clear even at lower intensities. We also found that fewer days had Fe/(C+O) > 0.183 during cycle 24. We identified 86 SEP events with at least one Fe-rich day, 65 of which occurred during cycle 23 and only 21 during cycle 24. We found that impulsive events have been almost completely absent during cycle 24. Mean abundances of heavy ions in the events were found to be significantly lower during cycle 24 than in cycle 23. Our results reflect the reduced solar activity in cycle 24 and indicate lower efficiency of particle acceleration processes for both gradual and impulsive SEP events in cycle 24.

Temperature of the Source Plasma in Gradual Solar Energetic Particle Events

Scattering, during interplanetary transport in large, "gradual" solar energetic-particle (SEP) events, can cause element abundance enhancements or suppressions that depend upon the mass-to-charge ratio A/Q of the ions as an increasing function early in events and a decreasing function of the residual scattered ions later. Since the Q values for the ions depend upon the source plasma temperature T, best fits, assuming a primarily power-law dependence of enhancements vs. A/Q, provide a fundamentally new method to determine the most probable value of T for these events in the region of 3-10 MeV/amu. Complicated variations in the grouping of element enhancements or suppressions match similar variations in A/Q at the best-fit temperature. We find that fits to the times of increasing and decreasing powers give similar values of T, most commonly in the range of 0.8-1.6 MK for 69% of the events, consistent with the acceleration of ambient coronal plasma by shock waves driven out from the Sun by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). However, 24% of the SEP events studied showed plasma of 2.5-3.2 MK, typical of that previously determined for the smaller impulsive SEP events; these particles may be reaccelerated preferentially by quasi-perpendicular shock waves that require a high injection threshold that the impulsive-event ions exceed or simply by high intensities of impulsive suprathermal ions at the shock. The source-temperature distribution of ten higher-energy ground-level events (GLEs) in the sample is similar to that of the other gradual events. Some events show evidence that a portion of the ions have been further stripped of electrons; such events are smaller and tend to cluster late in the solar cycle.

What Are the Sources of Solar Energetic Particles? Element Abundances and Source Plasma Temperatures

We have spent 50 years in heated discussion over which populations of solar energetic particles (SEPs) are accelerated at flares and which by shock waves driven out from the Sun by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The association of the large "gradual" SEP events with shock acceleration is supported by the extensive spatial distribution of SEPs and by the delayed acceleration of the particles. The relative abundances of the elements in these gradual events are a measure of those in the ambient solar corona, differing from those in the photosphere by a widely-observed function of the first ionization potential (FIP) of the elements. SEP events we call "impulsive", the traditional "3He-rich" events with enhanced heavy-element abundances, are associated with type III radio bursts, flares, and narrow CMEs; they selectively populate flux tubes that thread a localized source, and they are fit to new particle-in-cell models of magnetic reconnection on open field lines as found in solar jets. These models help explain the strong enhancements seen in heavy elements as a power (of 2 - 8) in the mass-to-charge ratio A/Q throughout the periodic table from He to Pb. A study of the temperature dependence of A/Q shows that the source plasma in impulsive SEP events must lie in the range of 2-4 MK to explain the pattern of abundances. This is much lower than the temperatures of >10 MK seen on closed loops in solar flares. Recent studies of A/Q-dependent enhancements or suppressions from scattering during transport show source plasma temperatures in gradual SEP events to be 0.8-1.6 MK in 69% of the events, i.e. coronal plasma; 24% of the events show reaccelerated impulsive-event material.

Long-lived energetic particle source regions on the Sun

Discovered more than 40 years ago, impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events are still poorly understood. The enormous abundance enhancement of the rare 3He isotope is the most striking feature of these events, though large enhancements in heavy and ultra-heavy nuclei are also observed. Recurrent 3He-rich SEPs in impulsive events have only been observed for limited time periods, up to a few days which is typically the time that a single stationary spacecraft is magnetically connected to the source active regions on the Sun. With the launch of the two STEREO spacecraft we now have the possibility of longer connection time to solar active regions. We examined the evolution of source regions showing repeated 3He-rich SEP emissions for relatively long time periods. We found that recurrent 3He-rich SEPs in these long-lived sources occur after the emergence of magnetic flux.

Case studies of multi-day3He-rich solar energetic particle periods

Context. Impulsive solar energetic particle events in the inner heliosphere show the long-lasting enrichment of 3He. Aims. We study the source regions of long-lasting 3He-rich solar energetic particle (SEP) events Methods. We located the responsible open magnetic field regions, we combined potential field source surface extrapolations (PFSS) with the Parker spiral, and compared the magnetic field of the identified source regions with in situ magnetic fields. The candidate open field regions are active region plages. The activity was examined by using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and STEREO together with radio observations from STEREO and WIND. Results. Multi-day periods of 3He-rich SEP events are associated with ion production in single active region. Small flares or coronal jets are their responsible solar sources. We also find that the 3He enrichment may depend on the occurrence rate of coronal jets.

Temperature of the Source Plasma for Impulsive Solar Energetic Particles

The steep power-law dependence of element abundance enhancements on the mass-to-charge ratios [A/Q] of the ions in impulsive solar energetic-particle (SEP) events causes these enhancements to reflect the temperature-dependent pattern of Q of the ions in the source plasma. We searched for SEP events from coronal plasma that is hotter or cooler than the limited region of 2.5 - 3.2 MK previously found to dominate 111 impulsive SEP events. Fifteen new events were found, four (three) originated in 2-MK (4-MK) plasma, but none from outside this temperature range. Although the impulsive SEP events are strongly associated with flares, this result indicates that these ions are not accelerated from flare-heated plasma, which can often exceed 10 MK. Evidently the ions of 2 - 20 MeV/amu that we observe in space are accelerated from active-region plasma on open magnetic-field lines near the flare, but not from the closed loops of the flare. The power-law dependence of the abundance enhancements on A/Q of the ions is expected from theoretical models of acceleration from regions of magnetic reconnection.

Variations in Abundance Enhancements in Impulsive Solar Energetic-Particle Events and Related CMEs and Flares

We study event-to-event variations in the abundance enhancements of the elements He through Pb for Fe-rich impulsive solar energetic-particle (SEP) events, and their relationship with properties of associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares. Using a least-squares procedure we fit the power-law enhancement of element abundances as a function of their mass-to-charge ratio A/Q to determine both the power and the coronal temperature (which determines Q) in each of 111 impulsive SEP events identified previously. Individual SEP events with the steepest element enhancements, e.g. ∼ (A/Q)6, tend to be smaller, lower-fluence events with steeper energy spectra that are associated with B- and C-class X-ray flares, with cooler (∼ 2.5 MK) coronal plasma, and with narrow (< 100∘), slower (< 700 km s−1) CMEs. On the other hand, higher-fluence SEP events have flatter energy spectra, less-dramatic heavy-element enhancements, e.g. ∼ (A/Q)3, and come from somewhat hotter coronal plasma (∼ 3.2 MK) associated with C-, M-, and even X-class X-ray flares and with wider CMEs. Enhancements in 3He/4He are uncorrelated with those in heavy elements. However, events with 3He/4He≥0.1 are even more strongly associated with narrow, slow CMEs, with cooler coronal plasma, and with B- and C-class X-ray flares than are other Fe-rich impulsive SEP events with smaller enhancements of 3He.

Abundance Enhancements in Impulsive Solar Energetic-Particle Events with Associated Coronal Mass Ejections

We study the abundances of the elements He through Pb in Fe-rich impulsive solar energetic-particle (SEP) events with measurable abundances of ions with atomic number Z>2 observed on the Wind spacecraft, and their relationship with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). On average the element abundances in these events are similar to coronal abundances at low Z but, for heavier elements, enhancements rise as a power law in the mass-to-charge ratio A/Q of the ions (at coronal temperatures of 2.5-3 MK) to a factor of 3 at Ne, 9 at Fe, and 900 for 75<Z<83. Energy dependences of abundances are minimal in the 2-15 MeV/amu range. The 111 of these Fe-rich impulsive SEP events we found, between November 1994 and August 2013 using the Wind spacecraft, have a 69% association rate with CMEs. The CMEs are narrow with a median width of 75 deg, are characteristically from western longitudes on the Sun, and have a median speed of ~600 km/s. Nearly all SEP onsets occur within 1.5-5 h of the CME onset. The faster (>700 km/s), wider CMEs in our sample are related to SEPs with coronal abundances indicating hot coronal plasma with fully ionized He, C, N and O and moderate enhancements of heavier elements, relative to He, but slower (<700 km/s), narrower CMEs emerge from cooler plasma where higher SEP mass-to-charge ratios, A/Q, yield much greater abundance enhancements, even for C/He and O/He. Apparently, the open magnetic-reconnection region where the impulsive SEPs are accelerated also provides the energy to drive out CME plasma, accounting for a strong, probably universal, impulsive SEP-CME association.

OBSERVATION OF HIGH IRON CHARGE STATES AT LOW ENERGIES IN SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE EVENTS

The ionic charge states of solar energetic particles (SEPs) provide direct information about the source plasma, the acceleration environment, and their transport. Recent studies report that both gradual and impulsive SEP events show mean iron charge states Q Fe ~ 10-14 at low energies E ≤ 0.1 MeV nuc–1, consistent with their origin from typical corona material at temperatures 1-2 MK. Observed increases of Q Fe up to 20 at energies 0.1-0.5 MeV nuc–1 in impulsive SEPs are attributed to stripping during acceleration. However, Q Fe > 16 is occasionally found in the solar wind, particularly coming from active regions, in contrast to the exclusively reported Q Fe ≤ 14 for low energy SEPs. Here we report results from a survey of all 89 SEP events observed with Advanced Composition Explorer Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer (SEPICA) in 1998-2000 for iron charge states augmented at low energy with Solar and Heliospheric Observatory CELIAS suprathermal time-of-flight (STOF). Nine SEP events with Q Fe ≥ 14 throughout the entire SEPICA and STOF energy range have been identified. Four of the nine events are impulsive events identified through velocity dispersion that are consistent with source temperatures ≥2 MK up to ~4 MK. The other five events show evidence of interplanetary acceleration. Four of them involve re-acceleration of impulsive material, whose original energy dependent charge states appear re-distributed to varying extent bringing higher charge states to lower energy. One event, which shows flat but elevated Q Fe ~ 14.2 over the entire energy range, can be associated with interplanetary acceleration of high temperature material. This event may exemplify a rare situation when a second shock plows through high temperature coronal mass ejection material.

SOURCE REGIONS OF THE INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD AND VARIABILITY IN HEAVY-ION ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION IN GRADUAL SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE EVENTS

Gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) events are those in which ions are accelerated to their observed energies by interactions with a shock driven by a fast coronal mass-ejection (CME). Previous studies have shown that much of the observed event-to-event variability can be understood in terms of shock speed and evolution in the shock-normal angle. But an equally important factor, particularly for the elemental composition, is the origin of the suprathermal seed particles upon which the shock acts. To tackle this issue, we (1) use observed solar-wind speed, magnetograms, and the PFSS model to map the Sun-L1 interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) line back to its source region on the Sun at the time of the SEP observations; and (2) then look for correlation between SEP composition (as measured by Wind and ACE at approx. 2-30 MeV/nucleon) and characteristics of the identified IMF-source regions. The study is based on 24 SEP events, identified as a statistically-significant increase in approx. 20 MeV protons and occurring in 1998 and 2003-2006, when the rate of newly-emergent solar magnetic flux and CMEs was lower than in solar-maximum years and the field-line tracing is therefore more likely to be successful. We find that the gradual SEP Fe/O is correlated with the field strength at the IMF-source, with the largest enhancements occurring when the footpoint field is strong, due to the nearby presence of an active region. In these cases, other elemental ratios show a strong charge-to-mass (q/M) ordering, at least on average, similar to that found in impulsive events. These results lead us to suggest that magnetic reconnection in footpoint regions near active regions bias the heavy-ion composition of suprathermal seed ions by processes qualitatively similar to those that produce larger heavy-ion enhancements in impulsive SEP events. To address potential technical concerns about our analysis, we also discuss efforts to exclude impulsive SEP events from our event sample.

The energy dependence of relative ion abundances during quiet-time periods in the 23rd solar cycle

The origin of 0.03-1 MeV/nucleon ions is investigated on the basis of ULEIS (ACE) data during quiet time periods in 1998-2011. The energy spectra of 3He, 4He, O, and Fe ions and the energy dependence of their relative abundances are obtained. The comparison of Fe/O abundance ratios during quiet time periods with the average relative ion abundances in various phenomena of solar activity shows that the ion fluxes tend to split into 3 groups. Over the entire solar cycle excluding minimum the Fe/O values corresponded to those observed in impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events (group I) and in the solar corona (group II). Near the activity minimum, however, the Fe/O values were usually near their solar wind values (group III). The energy spectra of suprathermal ions and the energy dependence of ion abundance ratios in different groups are also different depending on the ion first ionization potential. These results suggest that various acceleration mechanisms are at work in the different groups. The nearly constant values Fe/O 1 and 3He/4He 0.065 up to 0.8 MeV/nucleon obtained for ion group I possibly result from ion acceleration in small impulsive SEP events rich in Fe and 3He. This ratio Fe/O is about 15 times higher than the photospheric value and corresponds to the Fe abundance in the upper corona in old active regions. We suggest that ions in these coronal regions represent the population accelerated in impulsive SEP events.

Energy Release and Particle Acceleration in Flares: Summary and Future Prospects

RHESSI measurements relevant to the fundamental processes of energy release and particle acceleration in flares are summarized. RHESSI’s precise measurements of hard X-ray continuum spectra enable model-independent deconvolution to obtain the parent electron spectrum. Taking into account the effects of albedo, these show that the low energy cut-off to the electron power-law spectrum is typically ≲tens of keV, confirming that the accelerated electrons contain a large fraction of the energy released in flares. RHESSI has detected a high coronal hard X-ray source that is filled with accelerated electrons whose energy density is comparable to the magnetic-field energy density. This suggests an efficient conversion of energy, previously stored in the magnetic field, into the bulk acceleration of electrons. A new, collisionless (Hall) magnetic reconnection process has been identified through theory and simulations, and directly observed in space and in the laboratory; it should occur in the solar corona as well, with a reconnection rate fast enough for the energy release in flares. The reconnection process could result in the formation of multiple elongated magnetic islands, that then collapse to bulk-accelerate the electrons, rapidly enough to produce the observed hard X-ray emissions. RHESSI’s pioneering γ-ray line imaging of energetic ions, revealing footpoints straddling a flare loop arcade, has provided strong evidence that ion acceleration is also related to magnetic reconnection. Flare particle acceleration is shown to have a close relationship to impulsive Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events observed in the interplanetary medium, and also to both fast coronal mass ejections and gradual SEP events. New instrumentation to provide the high sensitivity and wide dynamic range hard X-ray and γ-ray measurements, plus energetic neutral atom (ENA) imaging of SEPs above ∼2 R⊙, will enable the next great leap forward in understanding particle acceleration and energy release is large solar eruptions—solar flares and associated fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs).