Impulsive Solar Energetic Particle Research Articles

Dynamic acceleration of energetic protons by an interplanetary collisionless shock

Context. Interplanetary collisionless shocks are known to be capable of accelerating charged particles up to hundreds of MeV. However, the underlying acceleration mechanisms are still under debate. Aims. We present the dynamic behaviors of energetic protons that are accelerated by an interplanetary shock that was observed with unprecedented high-resolution measurements by the Electron-Proton Telescope sensor of the Energetic Particle Detector suite on board the Solar Orbiter spacecraft on 2021 November 3. We constrain the potential acceleration mechanisms and processes. Methods. We first reconstructed the proton pitch-angle distributions (PADs) in the solar wind frame. Then, we examined the temporal flux profile, PAD, and the velocity distribution function of energetic protons close to the shock, and we qualitatively compared the observations with theoretical predictions. Moreover, we applied a velocity dispersion analysis (VDA) to an observed velocity dispersion event and derived the proton path length and release time at the shock. Then, we tested this derivation by comparing it with the shock motion and the magnetic field configuration. Results. We find that ∼1000–4000 keV protons exhibit a rapid-rise, rapid-decay temporal flux profile with a clear velocity dispersion ∼2 min before the shock, similar to impulsive solar energetic particle events. The proton path length based on the VDA of this event is consistent with the length derived from the shock motion and magnetic field configuration. The peak spectrum in this event appears to be steeper than the spectrum at the shock. Furthermore, we find that ∼50–200 keV proton fluxes peak between ∼10 and ∼20 s before the shock, with an inverse velocity dispersion. The velocity dispersion event and the inverse velocity dispersion event are both accompanied by magnetic kinks or switchbacks. In addition, two distinct proton populations appear near the shock. The first population at energies below ∼300 keV is characterized by a power-law spectrum with an index of ∼6–7 and a flux profile that increases before and decreases after the shock. The other population at energies above ∼300 keV shows a long-lasting, anti-sunward-beamed PAD across the shock and a flux profile that remains relatively constant before and increases slightly after the shock. Conclusions. These results suggest that the shock acceleration of energetic protons is highly dynamic due to temporal and/or spatial variations at the shock front. The observation of the velocity dispersion event further suggests that shock acceleration can be impulsive and efficient, which may be due to the interaction between the shock and magnetic kinks or switchbacks. Moreover, these results may support shock-drift acceleration and diffusive shock acceleration as candidate acceleration mechanisms at interplanetary shocks.

Likely Common Coronal Source of Solar Wind and 3He-enriched Energetic Particles: Uncoupled Transport from the Low Corona to 0.2 au

Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observations of a small dispersive event on 2022 February 27 and 28 indicate scatter-free propagation as the dominant transport mechanism between the low corona and greater than 35 solar radii. The event occurred during unique orbital conditions that prevailed along specific flux tubes that PSP encountered repeatedly between 25 and 35 Rs during outbound orbit 11. This segment of the PSP orbit exhibits almost stationary angular motion relative to the rotating solar surface, such that in the rotating frame, PSP’s motion is essentially radial. The time dispersion often observed in impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events continues in this case down to velocities including the core solar-wind ion velocities. Especially at the onset of this event, the 3He content is much larger than the usual SEP abundances seen in the energy range from ∼100 keV to several MeV for helium. Later in the event, iron is enhanced. The compositional signatures suggest this to be an example of an acceleration mechanism for generating the seed energetic particles required by shock (or compression) acceleration models in SEP events to account for the enrichment of various species above solar abundances in such events. A preliminary search of similar orbital conditions over the PSP mission has not revealed additional such events, although favorable conditions (isolated impulsive acceleration and well-ordered magnetic field connection with minimal magnetic field fluctuation) that would be required are infrequently realized, given the small fraction of the PSP trajectory that meets these observation conditions.

Element Abundances in Impulsive Solar Energetic-Particle Events

Impulsive solar energetic-particle (SEP) events were first distinguished as the streaming electrons that produce type III radio bursts as distinct from shock-induced type II bursts. They were then observed as the surprisingly enhanced 3He-rich SEP events, which were also found to have element enhancements rising smoothly with the mass-to-charge ratio A/Q through the elements, even up to Pb. These impulsive SEPs have been found to originate during magnetic reconnection in solar jets where open magnetic field lines allow energetic particles to escape. In contrast, impulsive solar flares are produced when similar reconnection involves closed field lines where energetic ions are trapped on closed loops and dissipate their energy as X-rays, γ-rays, and heat. Abundance enhancements that are power laws in A/Q can be used to determine Q values and hence the coronal source temperature in the events. Results show no evidence of heating, implying reconnection and ion acceleration occur early, rapidly, and at low density. Proton and He excesses that contribute their own power law may identify events with reacceleration of SEPs by shock waves driven by accompanying fast, narrow coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in many of the stronger jets.

Element Abundances in Impulsive Solar Energetic Particle Events

We outline and discuss a model for the enhanced abundances of trans-Fe elements in impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events, where large mass-dependent abundance enhancements are frequently seen. It comes about as a variation of the ponderomotive force model for the first ionization potential (FIP) effect, i.e., the increase in coronal abundance of elements like Fe, Mg, and Si that are ionized in the solar chromosphere relative to those that are neutral. In this way, the fractionation region is placed in the chromosphere and is connected to the solar envelope, allowing the huge abundance variations to occur, which might otherwise be problematic with a coronal fractionation site. The principal mechanism behind the mass-independent FIP fractionation becoming the mass-dependent impulsive SEP fractionation is the suppression of acoustic waves in the chromosphere. The ponderomotive force causing the fractionation must be due to torsional Alfvén waves, which couple much less effectively to slow modes than do shear waves, and upward-propagating acoustic waves deriving from photospheric convection must be effectively mode-converted to fast modes at the chromospheric layer, where Alfvén and sound speeds are equal, and subsequently totally internally reflected. We further discuss observations of the environments thought to be the source of impulsive SEPs and the extent to which the real Sun might meet these conditions.

Impulsive Solar Energetic Particle Events: Extreme-Ultraviolet Waves and Jets

Impulsive solar energetic particle (ISEP) events show peculiar elemental composition, with enhanced 3He and heavy-ion abundances, markedly different from our Solar System composition. Furthermore, the events are characterized by a wide variety of energy spectral shapes from power laws to rounded spectra toward the low energies. Solar sources of the events have been firmly associated with coronal jets. Surprisingly, new observations have shown that events are often accompanied by so-called extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) coronal waves–a large-scale phenomenon compared to jets. This paper outlines the current understanding of the linkage of EUV waves with jets and energetic ions in ISEP events.

3He-rich solar energetic particle events observed on the first perihelion pass of Solar Orbiter

We report observations of five impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events observed inside 1 au during the first perihelion pass of the Solar Orbiter mission, which was launched in February 2020. These small events were all reasonably associated with active regions observed from Earth but which had rotated out of view by the time of the Solar Orbiter observations. Even though most of the events were small, their spectral forms,3He content, and association with type III bursts convincingly identifies them as3He-rich impulsive SEP events with properties similar to those previously observed at 1 au. Three of the events showed fast ion rise times, and two of them had long-lasting anisotropies consistent with the Compton-Getting effect.

Particle-in-cell Simulation of 3He Enrichment in Solar Energetic Particle Events

Abstract 3He enrichment is one distinctive feature of impulsive solar energetic particle events. This study is designed to investigate the process of plasma wave–particle resonance, which plays a key role in selectively accelerating heavy ions. We apply a 1.5 dimensional particle-in-cell simulation to model the electron-beam–plasma interaction that generates electron and ion cyclotron waves, namely proton and 4He cyclotron waves, whose dispersions are dependent on the magnetization parameter α = ω pe/Ωce and the temperature ratio τ = T e /T p . The background particles, e.g., 3He and 4He, resonate with the excited cyclotron waves and experience selective heating or acceleration. Specifically, the resonant modes of 3He ions lead to a more effective acceleration rate compared to those of the 4He ions. The simulation results provide a potential solution for understanding the abundance of heavy ions in the solar wind.

An Alternative Interpretation of Impulsive SEP Events Occurring on 1999 January 9–10

Abstract We have examined two impulsive solar energetic particle events that occurred on 1999 January 9–10 (earlier event A and later event B). Both events showed earlier velocity dispersion and later intensity dropout of ions. In particular, in event A, the dropout repeated five times. Through the onset time analysis of solar particles, we find that only at higher energies (>0.2 MeV nucleon−1 for heavy ions and >2.8 keV for electrons) can the analysis provide a consistent path length of ions and electrons. The path length in event A is larger than that in event B. In contrast, at lower energies, the analysis fails to predict the distribution of first arrival of solar particles. The divergence between observation and prediction would increase if the interplanetary scattering of ions were taken into account. We then focus on the lower-energy region, where a negative correlation of ion intensities with plasma β is displayed. We have found that the repeated dropout of ions can be caused by the magnetic reconnection acceleration in the solar wind. In addition, we have discovered an isolated proton dropout event in which a sharply anisotropic pitch-angle distribution of low-energy electrons is also seen. Our observation is consistent with the prediction of Tautz et al. that a minimum power spectral density component parallel to the magnetic field can reduce the magnetic mirroring effect, preventing electron scattering through 90°.

A Possible Enrichment of Heavy and Ultraheavy Ions in Solar Energetic Particle Events Due to a Combined Effect of Stochastic Acceleration and Coulomb Losses

Abstract Solar particle events that are rich in 3He typically also exhibit large overabundances of heavy and ultraheavy ions that increase with the mass of the ions. To explain these observations we apply our charge-consistent acceleration model, which takes into account the acceleration efficiency as a function of the charge to mass ratio of the ion, as well as the charge-dependent Coulomb energy losses, to consider the acceleration of ions within a wide range of their nuclear charge. Because the considerations of particle acceleration were restricted so far by tabulated values of ionization and recombination coefficients that were available only for a limited set of ions, we make use of our method developed earlier and calculate the rates of ions resembling the three representative mass groups of ultraheavy ions. We demonstrate that smaller Coulomb losses together with higher acceleration efficiency result in the enhancements of heavy and ultraheavy ions, in accordance with recent observations. We also conclude that the existing measurements of ultraheavy ions in impulsive solar energetic particle events provide evidence in favor of a magnetic turbulence in the acceleration region with spectral index S ≥ 2.

Hydrogen and the Abundances of Elements in Impulsive Solar Energetic-Particle Events

Hydrogen has been almost completely ignored in studies of the abundance patterns of the chemical elements in solar energetic particles (SEPs). We seek to find impulsive events where H fits these abundance patterns and document the events that do not, suggesting possible reasons for the disparity. For 24% of the smaller impulsive SEP events, the relative abundance of H fits within one standard deviation of the power-law fit of the abundances of elements 6 leq Z leq 56, relative to coronal abundances. In impulsive events with high intensities, H can be 10 to 100 times its expected value. In a few of these larger events, increased scattering at high wavenumber may preferentially detain H, perhaps with self-amplified waves; in some events pre-event proton background may contribute. In most large impulsive SEP events, however, associated shock waves must play a much greater role than previously thought; fast ({>},500~mbox{km},mbox{s}^{-1}) coronal mass ejections contribute to 62% of impulsive events. Shocks may sample protons from the ambient coronal plasma or residual background as well as reaccelerating heavier impulsive SEP ions injected from the region of magnetic reconnection in solar jets. Excess H may be a signature of shock acceleration.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.