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Solar Energetic Particles Solar Energetic Particles Donald V. Reames Institute for Physical Science and Technology University of Maryland College Park, MD, USA To be published by Springer ~March 2017 Submitted October 2016 ii Preface It is common for scientific texts to be organized in logical rather than historical order. Unfortunately, perhaps, nature does not always proceed in that fashion. In an actively evolving field, new ideas and observations build slowly, step by step, often reversing course, and a student should be prepared for this. Therefore, I have included much of the backing and filling, and the individual observations which have led to our present understanding. In reading this book, it is important to keep in mind that a realistic understand- ing must incorporate different kinds of observations. No single inquiry will suf- fice. Like reading a murder mystery, it is normal to speculate along the way, but we must eventually consider all the evidence, which is not available early in the story. There are many pieces of evidence, of many different kinds, in this mys- tery. There is now a wealth of evidence on abundances of chemical elements and isotopes and their ionization states, and much on electrons; there is onset timing, radio evidence, and the streaming limit; there are injection profiles, intensity drop- outs, energy spectral shapes, spectral knees, and particle reservoirs, in addition to the solar associations. All of these help us find the origin, acceleration, distribu- tion and transport of the solar energetic particles (affectionately SEPs). This has become a rich field. Unlike the murder mystery, however, our hard-won under- standing also raises new questions for future scientists to address. The story of SEPs is actually covered in five chapters. Chapter 1 provides a background and an introduction to SEP properties. Chapters 2 and 3 present the history and much of the physical evidence for the separation of impulsive and gradual SEP events. Chapters 4 and 5 consider properties of each of these classes individually. The later chapters provide supplementary information on high ener- gies and radiation hazards of SEPs (Chapter 6), on SEP measurements (Chapter 7), and a Summary and Conclusions (Chapter 8). I hope students of SEPs will enjoy reading this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Don Reames iii Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank those scientists who have contributed their efforts to the progress of this field and those who have contributed the figures I have used to illustrate their discoveries. Special thanks go to Louis Barbier, Daniel Berdichevshy, Ed Cliver, Steve Kahler, Mary Ann Linzmayer, Chee Ng, Ron Turner, and Gary Zank for reading and commenting on this manuscript and for helpful discussions leading to its preparation. I would especially like to thank Chee Ng for his assistance with the theory of particle transport, wave growth, and shock acceleration. About the Author Born and raised in Florida, Don Reames received his education, leading in 1964 to a PhD in Nuclear Physics, at the University of California at Berkeley. He then joined a group at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland using sounding rockets and balloons to study galactic cosmic rays and energetic particles from the Sun. He subsequently used data from experiments on the Gemini, IMP, ISEE, Helios, Voyager, Wind and STEREO missions, as well as many re- lated solar missions, to study those particles and their origins more extensively. He retired from NASA in 2003 to assume an Emeritus position, but also soon joined the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland in College Park to become a Senior Research Scientist. His honors include the 2012 George Ellery Hale Prize from the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society for his work on the composition and transport of solar energetic particles. iv Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................1 1.1 The Structure of the Sun ..............................................................................1 1.2 The Solar Magnetic Field ............................................................................2 1.3 Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) .................................................................4 1.4 Interplanetary Space ....................................................................................5 1.5 Solar Energetic Particles..............................................................................6 1.5.1 Time Duration ......................................................................................7 1.5.2 Abundances ..........................................................................................7 1.5.3 The Solar Cycle....................................................................................9 1.5.4 Relativistic Kinematics.......................................................................10 References .......................................................................................................11 2. History..............................................................................................................13 2.1 The First SEPs ...........................................................................................13 2.2 Solar Radio Bursts and Electrons ..............................................................14 2.3 The Spatial Distribution.............................................................................14 2.3.1 Diffusion and the Birdcage Model .....................................................14 2.3.2 Large Scale Shock Acceleration and CMEs.......................................15 2.3.3 The Longitude Distribution ................................................................15 2.3.4 Scatter-Free Events............................................................................17 2.3.5 Field-line Random Walk.....................................................................17 2.4 Element Abundances .................................................................................18 2.4.1. First Ionization Potential (FIP) and A/Q ..........................................18 2.4.2. 3He-rich Events .................................................................................19 2.4.3. The Seed Population..........................................................................21 2.5 Ionization States.........................................................................................24 2.6. Shock Theory............................................................................................25 2.7 Disappearing-Filament Events...................................................................25 2.8 “The Solar Flare Myth” .............................................................................26 2.9 Wave Generation and the Streaming Limit................................................27 2.10 SEP – CME Correlation...........................................................................27 References .......................................................................................................29 3. Distinguishing the Sources..............................................................................33 3.1 SEP Onset Times .......................................................................................33 3.2 Realistic Shock-SEP Timing and Correlations ..........................................36 3.3 Injection Profiles........................................................................................38 3.4 High-Energy Spectra and Spectral Knees..................................................39 3.5 Intensity Dropouts and Compact Sources..................................................39 3.6 Abundances ...............................................................................................40 v 3.7 Electrons ....................................................................................................41 3.8 SEPs as Probes...........................................................................................42 References........................................................................................................45 4. Impulsive SEP Events .....................................................................................47 4.1 Selecting Impulsive Events........................................................................47 4.2 Sample Impulsive Events...........................................................................48 4.3 Energy Dependence ...................................................................................49 4.4 Abundances for Z ≤ 26 ..............................................................................51 4.5 Abundances for 34 ≤ Z ≤ 82 ......................................................................52 4.6 Power-Law Enhancements in A/Q: Source-Plasma Temperatures............52 4.7 Associations: CMEs, Flares, and Jets ........................................................54 4.8. Can We Have it Both Ways? ....................................................................58 4.9 Nuclear Reactions: Gamma-ray Lines and Neutrons.................................59 4.10. Open Questions.......................................................................................60 References........................................................................................................61 5. Gradual SEP Events........................................................................................63
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