KAPPA: A Package for Synthesis of optically thin spectra for the non-Maxwellian kappa-distributions based on the CHIANTI database

Abstract

The non-Maxwellian $\kappa$-distributions have been detected in the solar transition region and flares. These distributions are characterized by a high-energy tail and a near-Maxwellian core and are known to have significant impact on the resulting optically thin spectra arising from collisionally dominated astrophysical plasmas. We developed the KAPPA package (http://kappa.asu.cas.cz) for synthesis of such line and continuum spectra. The package is based on the freely available CHIANTI database and software, and can be used in a similar manner. Ionization and recombination rates together with the ionization equilibria are provided for a range of $\kappa$ values. Distribution-averaged collision strengths for excitation are obtained by an approximate method for all transitions in all ions available within CHIANTI. The validity of this approximate method is tested by comparison with direct calculations. Typical precisions of better than 5% are found, with all cases being within 10%. Tools for calculation of synthetic line and continuum intensities are provided and described. Examples of the synthetic spectra and SDO/AIA responses to emission for the $\kappa$-distributions are given.

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, accepted

References in corpus (9)

• Resolving the electron temperature discrepancies in HII Regions and Planetary Nebulae: kappa-distributed electrons
• Evidence of Non-Thermal Particles in Coronal Loops Heated Impulsively by Nanoflares
• The Formation of Kappa-Distribution Accelerated Electron Populations in Solar Flares
• Kappa distribution and hard X-ray emission of solar flares
• Discrepancies between the [OIII] and [SIII] Temperatures in HII Regions
• The Origin of Non-Maxwellian Solar Wind Electron Velocity Distribution Function: Connection to Nanoflares in the Solar Corona
• Signatures of the non-Maxwellian $\kappa$-distributions in optically thin line spectra \subtitle{I. Theory and synthetic Fe IX--XIII spectra}
• Spectroscopic Observations of Fe XVIII in Solar Active Regions
• Collisional and Radiative Processes in Optically Thin Plasmas

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Non-Equilibrium Processes in the Solar Corona, Transition Region, Flares, and Solar Wind \textit{(Invited Review)}
• Physical correlations lead to kappa distributions
• Imaging and Spectroscopic Observations of a Transient Coronal Loop: Evidence for the Non-Maxwellian $\kappa$-Distributions
• Signatures of the non-Maxwellian $\kappa$-distributions in optically thin line spectra. II. Synthetic Fe XVII--XVIII X-ray coronal spectra and predictions for the Marshall Grazing-Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS)
• Effect of magnetic field on viscosity in the weakly ionized and magnetized plasma with power-law q-distributions in nonextensive statiostics
• X-ray Spectra from Plasmas with High-Energy Electrons: kappa-distributions and e-e Bremsstrahlung
• Synthetic IRIS spectra of the solar transition region: Effect of high-energy tails
• Shock-reflected electrons and X-ray line spectra