On the Acceleration of Thermal Coronal Ions by Flare Induced Shock Waves
Abstract
The energy spectra of solar flare ions are calculated by assuming that the process which accelerates solar wind ions to MeV/ nucleon energies in the interplanetary corotating interaction region (CIR) also occurs in flare induced magnetosonic fast-mode (MFM) shocks in the corona. Solar wind ions are considered to be accelerated to MeV/nucleon energies by wave-particle interactions in the shock front and the downstream flow, being compressed between upstream and downstream magnetic field irregularities, and then accelerated by the shock drift acceleration mechanism. The energy spectra of the accelerated ions is calculated from the number of shock encounters as a function of the post- and preacceleration energies. A best fit by an exponential in momentum is determined for ions in the 50 MeV to a few GeV range, and from 20-80 MeV by a suitable power law in kinetic energy with a mean spectral index. Comparisons with observed solar protons show good agreement.
- Publication:
-
International Cosmic Ray Conference
- Pub Date:
- 1981
- Bibcode:
- 1981ICRC....3..406D
- Keywords:
-
- Particle Acceleration;
- Shock Wave Propagation;
- Solar Corona;
- Solar Corpuscular Radiation;
- Solar Flares;
- Solar Wind;
- Ions;
- Kinetic Energy;
- Nucleons;
- Particle Interactions;
- Shock Fronts;
- Solar Protons;
- Thermal Plasmas;
- Solar Physics;
- PARTICLE ACCELERATION;
- SHOCK WAVE PROPAGATION;
- SOLAR CORONA;
- SOLAR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION;
- SOLAR FLARES;
- SOLAR WIND;
- IONS;
- KINETIC ENERGY;
- NUCLEONS;
- PARTICLE INTERACTIONS;
- SHOCK FRONTS;
- SOLAR PROTONS;
- THERMAL PLASMAS