The Acceleration of Ions in Solar Flares During Magnetic Reconnection

Abstract

The acceleration of solar flare ions during magnetic reconnection is explored via particle-in-cell simulations that self-consistently follow the motions of both protons and $\alpha$ particles. We demonstrate that the dominant ion heating during reconnection with a guide field (a magnetic component perpendicular to the reconnection plane) results from pickup behavior during the entry into reconnection exhausts. In contrast with anti-parallel reconnection, the temperature increment is dominantly transverse, rather than parallel, to the local magnetic field. The comparison of protons and alphas reveals a mass-to-charge ($M/Q$) threshold in pickup behavior that favors heating of high $M/Q$ ions over protons, which is consistent with impulsive flare observations.

Revised based on reviewer's comments; text clarified and references added

References in corpus (3)

• Two-scale structure of the electron dissipation region during collisionless magnetic reconnection
• Dissipation of the sectored heliospheric magnetic field near the heliopause: a mechanism for the generation of anomalous cosmic rays
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