X-ray line coincidence photopumping in a solar flare

Keenan, F. P.; Poppenhaeger, K.; Mathioudakis, M.; Rose, S. J.; Flowerdew, J.; Hynes, D.; Christian, D. J.; Nilsen, J.; Johnson, W. R.

doi:10.1093/mnras/stx3035

Title: X-ray line coincidence photopumping in a solar flare

Journal Article · Thu Nov 23 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3035· OSTI ID:1438781

Keenan, F. P. ^[1];

^[1]; Mathioudakis, M. ^[1]; Rose, S. J. ^[2]; Flowerdew, J. ^[2]; Hynes, D. ^[2]; Christian, D. J. ^[3]; Nilsen, J. ^[4]; Johnson, W. R. ^[5]

Queen’s Univ., Belfast (United Kingdom). Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics
Imperial College, London (United Kingdom). Blackett Lab.
California State Univ. (CalState), Northridge, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Univ. of Notre Dame, IN (United States). Dept. of Physics

Line coincidence photopumping is a process where the electrons of an atomic or molecular species are radiatively excited through the absorption of line emission from another species at a coincident wavelength. There are many instances of line coincidence photopumping in astrophysical sources at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths, with the most famous example being Bowen fluorescence (pumping of O III 303.80 Å by He II), but none to our knowledge in X-rays. However, here we report on a scheme where a He-like line of Ne IX at 11.000 Å is photopumped by He-like Na X at 11.003 Å, which predicts significant intensity enhancement in the Ne IX 82.76 Å transition under physical conditions found in solar flare plasmas. A comparison of our theoretical models with published X-ray observations of a solar flare obtained during a rocket flight provides evidence for line enhancement, with the measured degree of enhancement being consistent with that expected from theory, a truly surprising result. Observations of this enhancement during flares on stars other than the Sun would provide a powerful new diagnostic tool for determining the sizes of flare loops in these distant, spatially unresolved, astronomical sources.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; European Union (EU)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; 606862

OSTI ID:: 1438781

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-739147

Journal Information:: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 474, Issue 3; ISSN 0035-8711

Publisher:: Royal Astronomical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 1 work

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