Diagnostics of non-thermal distributions in solar flare spectra observed by RESIK and RHESSI

We focus on the non-thermal components of the electron distribution in the keV range and analyse high-energy resolution X-ray spectra detected by RESIK and RHESSI for three solar flares.In the 2-4 keV range we assume that the electron distribution can be modelled by an n-distribution. Using a method of line-intensity ratios, we analyse allowed and satellite lines of Si observed by RESIK and estimate the parameters of this n-distribution. At higher energies we explore RHESSI bremsstrahlung spectra. Adopting a forward-fitting approach and thick-target approximation, we determine the characteristics of injected electron beams. RHESSI non-thermal component associated with the electron beam is correlated well with presence of the non-thermal n-distribution obtained from the RESIK spectra. In addition, such an n-distribution occurs during radio bursts observed in the 0.61-15.4 GHz range. Furthermore, we show that the n-distribution could also explain RHESSI emission below ~5 keV. Therefore, two independent diagnostics methods indicate the flare plasma being affected by the electron beam can have a non-thermal component in the ~2-5 keV range, which is described by the n-distribution well. Finally, spectral line analysis reveals that the n-distribution does not occupy the same location as the thermal component detected by RHESSI at ~10 keV.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, 10 table

Non-Equilibrium Processes in the Solar Corona, Transition Region, Flares, and Solar Wind \textit{(Invited Review)}

We review the presence and signatures of the non-equilibrium processes, both non-Maxwellian distributions and non-equilibrium ionization, in the solar transition region, corona, solar wind, and flares. Basic properties of the non-Maxwellian distributions are described together with their influence on the heat flux as well as on the rates of individual collisional processes and the resulting optically thin synthetic spectra. Constraints on the presence of high-energy electrons from observations are reviewed, including positive detection of non-Maxwellian distributions in the solar corona, transition region, flares, and wind. Occurrence of non-equilibrium ionization is reviewed as well, especially in connection to hydrodynamic and generalized collisional-radiative modelling. Predicted spectroscopic signatures of non-equilibrium ionization depending on the assumed plasma conditions are summarized. Finally, we discuss the future remote-sensing instrumentation that can be used for detection of these non-equilibrium phenomena in various spectral ranges.Comment: Solar Physics, accepte

Slipping magnetic reconnection, chromospheric evaporation, implosion, and precursors in the 2014 September 10 X1.6-class solar flare

© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.. We investigate the occurrence of slipping magnetic reconnection, chromospheric evaporation, and coronal loop dynamics in the 2014 September 10 X-class flare. Slipping reconnection is found to be present throughout the flare from its early phase. Flare loops are seen to slip in opposite directions toward both ends of the ribbons. Velocities of 20-40 km s-1 are found within time windows where the slipping is well resolved. The warm coronal loops exhibit expanding and contracting motions that are interpreted as displacements due to the growing flux rope that subsequently erupts. This flux rope existed and erupted before the onset of apparent coronal implosion. This indicates that the energy release proceeds by slipping reconnection and not via coronal implosion. The slipping reconnection leads to changes in the geometry of the observed structures at the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph slit position, from flare loop top to the footpoints in the ribbons. This results in variations of the observed velocities of chromospheric evaporation in the early flare phase. Finally, it is found that the precursor signatures, including localized EUV brightenings as well as nonthermal X-ray emission, are signatures of the flare itself, progressing from the early phase toward the impulsive phase, with the tether-cutting being provided by the slipping reconnection. The dynamics of both the flare and outlying coronal loops is found to be consistent with the predictions of the standard solar flare model in three dimensions

Plasma Diagnostics From Active Region and Quiet Sun Spectra Observed by Hinode/EIS: Quantifying the Departures from a Maxwellian Distribution

We perform plasma diagnostics, including that of the non-Maxwellian $\kappa$-distributions, in several structures observed in the solar corona by the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) onboard the Hinode spacecraft. To prevent uncertainties due to the in-flight calibration of EIS, we selected spectral atlases observed shortly after the launch of the mission. One spectral atlas contains an observation of an active region, while the other is an off-limb quiet Sun region. To minimize the uncertainties of the diagnostics, we rely only on strong lines and we average the signal over a spatial area within selected structures. Multiple plasma parameters are diagnosed, such as the electron density, differential emission measure, and the non-Maxwellian parameter $\kappa$. To do that, we use a simple, well-converging iterative scheme based on refining the initial density estimates via the DEM and $\kappa$. We find that while the quiet Sun spectra are consistent with a Maxwellian distribution, the coronal loops and moss observed within active region are strongly non-Maxwellian with $\kappa$ $\lessapprox$ 3. These results were checked by calculating synthetic ratios using DEMs obtained as a function of $\kappa$. Ratios predicted using the DEMs assuming $\kappa$-distributions converged to the ratios observed in the quiet Sun and coronal loops. To our knowledge, this work presents a strong evidence of a presence of different electron distributions between two physically distinct parts of the solar corona.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 4 table

Collisional and Radiative Processes in Optically Thin Plasmas

Most of our knowledge of the physical processes in distant plasmas is obtained through measurement of the radiation they produce. Here we provide an overview of the main collisional and radiative processes and examples of diagnostics relevant to the microphysical processes in the plasma. Many analyses assume a time-steady plasma with ion populations in equilibrium with the local temperature and Maxwellian distributions of particle velocities, but these assumptions are easily violated in many cases. We consider these departures from equilibrium and possible diagnostics in detail

Effects of electron distribution anisotropy in spectroscopic diagnostics of solar flares

Aims. We analyzed effects of the bi-Maxwellian electron distribution representing electron temperature anisotropy along and across the magnetic field on the ionization and excitation equilibrium with consequences on the temperature diagnostics of the flare plasma. Methods. The bi-Maxwellian energy distributions were calculated numerically. Synthetic X-ray line spectra of the bi-Maxwellian distributions were calculated using non-Maxwellian ionization, recombination, excitation and de-excitation rates. Results. We found that the anisotropic bi-Maxwellian velocity distributions transform to the nonthermal energy distributions with a high-energy tail. Their maximum is shifted to lower energies and contains a higher number of the low-energy particles in comparison with the Maxwellian one. Increasing the deviation of the parameter p = T∥/T⊥ from 1, changes the shape of bi-Maxwellian distributions and ionization equilibrium, and relative line intensities also increase. The effects are more significant for the bi-Maxwellian distribution with T∥ > T⊥. Moreover, considering different acceleration mechanisms and collisional isotropization it is possible that the bi-Maxwellian distributions with high deviations from the Maxwellian distribution are more probable for those with p >  1 than for those with p   1 can be much more easily diagnosed than those with p <  1. Furthermore, we compared the effects of the bi-Maxwellian distributions on the ionization equilibrium and temperature diagnostics with those for the κ-distributions obtained previously. We found that they are similar and at the present state it is difficult to distinguish between the bi-Maxwellian and κ-distributions from the line ratios

Diagnostics of the

Aims. The solar transition region satisfies the conditions for appearance of the non-thermal κ-distribution. We aim to prove the occurrence of the non-thermal κ-distribution in the solar transition region and diagnose its parameters. Methods. The intensity ratios of Si ii

The ionization equilibrium and flare line spectra for the electron distribution with a power-law tail

Context. Electron energy spectra exhibiting a high-energy tail are commonly observed during solar flares. Aims. We investigate the influence of the high-energy tail and thermal or nonthermal plasma bulk on the ionization equilibrium of Si and Si flare line spectra. Methods. We construct a realistically composed distribution that reflects the fits to RHESSI observations. We describe the high-energy tail by a power-law distribution and the bulk of the electron distribution by either the Maxwellian or n-distribution. The shape of this composed distribution is described by three parameters: the ratio of the plasma bulk density to the density of the high-energy tail, the power-law index of the high-energy tail, and the parameter n, which describes the bulk of the distribution. Results. Both the plasma bulk and the high-energy tail change the ionization equilibrium. The relative ion abundances are sensitive to the shape of the plasma bulk, but are much less sensitive to the high-energy tail. The high-energy tail increases the ratio of temperature-sensitive lines Si XIV λ5.22/Si XIII λ5.68. Because this ratio can be fitted with a thermal distribution with higher temperature, the high-energy tail influences the temperature diagnostics from flare lines. The high-energy tail has only a small effect on the ratio of the satellite-to-allowed Si XIId/Si XIII lines, which are dominantly sensitive on the shape of the plasma bulk. This enables us to perform an accurate diagnostic of the parameter n describing the plasma bulk. Conclusions. The realistically composed distribution is able to explain the observed features of the RESIK X-ray flare line spectra

Differential emission measure analysis of active region cores and quiet Sun for the non-Maxwellian

Context. The non-Maxwellian κ-distributions have been detected in the solar wind and can explain intensities of some transition region lines. Presence of such distributions in the outer layers of the solar atmosphere influences the ionization and excitation equilibrium and widens the line contribution functions. This behavior may be reflected on the reconstructed differential emission measure (DEM). Aims. We aim to investigate the influence of κ-distributions on the reconstructed DEMs. Methods. We perform DEM reconstruction for three active region cores and a quiet Sun region using the Withbroe-Sylwester method and the regularization method. Results. We find that the reconstructed DEMs depend on the value of κ. The DEMs of the active region cores show similar behavior with decreasing κ, or an increasing departure from the Maxwellian distribution. For lower κ, the peaks of the DEMs are typically shifted to higher temperatures and the DEMs themselves become more concave. This is caused by the less steep high-temperature slopes for lower κ. However, the low-temperature slopes do not change significantly even for extremely low κ. The behavior of the quiet-Sun DEM distribution is different. It becomes progressively less multithermal for lower κ with the EM-loci plots that indicate near-isothermal plasma for κ = 2. Conclusions. The κ-distributions can influence the reconstructed DEMs. The slopes of the DEM, however, do not change with κ significantly enough to produce different constraints on the heating mechanism in terms of frequency of coronal heating events