Implications of X-ray Observations for Electron Acceleration and Propagation in Solar Flares
Abstract
High-energy X-rays and gamma-rays from solar flares were discovered just over fifty years ago. Since that time, the standard for the interpretation of spatially integrated flare X-ray spectra at energies above several tens of keV has been the collisional thick-target model. After the launch of the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) in early 2002, X-ray spectra and images have been of sufficient quality to allow a greater focus on the energetic electrons responsible for the X-ray emission, including their origin and their interactions with the flare plasma and magnetic field. The result has been new insights into the flaring process, as well as more quantitative models for both electron acceleration and propagation, and for the flare environment with which the electrons interact. In this article we review our current understanding of electron acceleration, energy loss, and propagation in flares. Implications of these new results for the collisional thick-target model, for general flare models, and for future flare studies are discussed.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1109.6496,
title = {Implications of X-ray Observations for Electron Acceleration and Propagation in Solar Flares},
author = {Gordon D. Holman and Markus J. Aschwanden and Henry Aurass and Marina Battaglia and Paolo C. Grigis and Eduard P. Kontar and Wei Liu and Pascal Saint-Hilaire and Valentina V. Zharkova},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1109.6496},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
This is an article from a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011)