PARTICLE-IN-CELL SIMULATIONS OF PARTICLE ENERGIZATION VIA SHOCK DRIFT ACCELERATION FROM LOW MACH NUMBER QUASI-PERPENDICULAR SHOCKS IN SOLAR FLARES

Journal Article · Sun Mar 10 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/765/2/147· OSTI ID:22126960

Park, Jaehong; Chuang, Ren; Workman, Jared C.; Blackman, Eric G. ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627 (United States)

Low Mach number, high beta fast mode shocks can occur in the magnetic reconnection outflows of solar flares. These shocks, which occur above flare loop tops, may provide the electron energization responsible for some of the observed hard X-rays and contemporaneous radio emission. Here we present new two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of low Mach number/high beta quasi-perpendicular shocks. The simulations show that electrons above a certain energy threshold experience shock-drift-acceleration. The transition energy between the thermal and non-thermal spectrum and the spectral index from the simulations are consistent with some of the X-ray spectra from RHESSI in the energy regime of E {approx}< 40 {approx} 100 keV. Plasma instabilities associated with the shock structure such as the modified-two-stream and the electron whistler instabilities are identified using numerical solutions of the kinetic dispersion relations. We also show that the results from PIC simulations with reduced ion/electron mass ratio can be scaled to those with the realistic mass ratio.

• OSTI ID: 22126960
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 765, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ACCELERATION
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DISPERSION RELATIONS
HARD X RADIATION
HIGH-BETA PLASMA
IONS
KEV RANGE
MACH NUMBER
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PHOTON EMISSION
PLASMA SIMULATION
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR ELECTRONS
SOLAR FLARES
SUN
WHISTLER INSTABILITY
X-RAY SPECTRA