Characteristics of Solar Flare Hard X-ray Emissions: Observations and Models
Abstract
The main theme of this dissertation is the investigation of the physics of acceleration and transport of particles in solar flares and their radiative signatures.
The observational studies, using hard X-rays (HXRs) observed by RHESSI, concentrate on four flares, which support the classical magnetic reconnection model of flares in various ways. In the 11/03/2003 X3.9 flare, there is an upward motion of the loop-top source, accompanied by a systematic increase in the separation of the foot-point sources at a comparable speed. This is consistent with the reconnection model with an inverted-Y geometry. The 04/30/2002 M1.3 event exhibits rarely observed two coronal sources, with very similar spectra and their higher-energy emission being close together. This suggests that reconnection occurs between the two sources. In the 10/29/2003 X10 flare, the logarithmic total HXR flux of the two foot-points correlates with their mean magnetic field. The foot-points show asymmetric HXR fluxes, qualitatively consistent with the magnetic mirroring effect. The 11/13/2003 M1.7 flare reveals evidence of chromospheric evaporation directly imaged by RHESSI for the first time. The emission centroids move toward the loop-top, indicating a density increase in the loop. The theoretical modeling of this work combines the Stanford stochastic acceleration model with the NRL hydrodynamic model to study the interplay of the particle acceleration, transport, and radiation effects and the atmospheric response to the energy deposition by electrons. I find that low-energy electrons in the quasi-thermal portion of the spectrum affects the hydrodynamics by producing more heating in the corona than the previous models that used a power-law spectrum with a low-energy cutoff. The Neupert effect is found to be present and effects of suppression of thermal conduction are tested in the presence of hydrodynamic flows. I gratefully thank my adviser, Prof. Vahe' Petrosian, my collaborators, and funding support from NSF and NASA.- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #210
- Pub Date:
- May 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007AAS...210.6801L