Accelerated particle beams in a 3D simulation of the quiet Sun

Abstract

Observational and theoretical evidence suggest that beams of accelerated particles are produced in flaring events of all sizes in the solar atmosphere, from X-class flares to nanoflares. Current models of these types of particles in flaring loops assume an isolated 1D atmosphere. A more realistic environment for modelling accelerated particles can be provided by 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamics codes. Here, we present a simple model for particle acceleration and propagation in the context of a 3D simulation of the quiet solar atmosphere, spanning from the convection zone to the corona. We then examine the additional transport of energy introduced by the particle beams. The locations of particle acceleration associated with magnetic reconnection were identified by detecting changes in magnetic topology. At each location, the parameters of the accelerated particle distribution were estimated from local conditions. The particle distributions were then propagated along the magnetic field, and the energy deposition due to Coulomb collisions with the ambient plasma was computed. We find that particle beams originate in extended acceleration regions that are distributed across the corona. Upon reaching the transition region, they converge and produce strands of intense heating that penetrate the chromosphere. Within these strands, beam heating consistently dominates conductive heating below the bottom of the transition region. This indicates that particle beams qualitatively alter the energy transport even outside of active regions.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (34)

• The stellar atmosphere simulation code Bifrost
• Global Energetics of Thirty-Eight Large Solar Eruptive Events
• Radiative Hydrodynamic Models of the Optical and Ultraviolet Emission from Solar Flares
• Implications of X-ray Observations for Electron Acceleration and Propagation in Solar Flares
• A Unified Computational Model for Solar and Stellar Flares
• RHESSI Microflare Statistics II. X-ray Imaging, Spectroscopy & Energy Distributions
• Approximations for radiative cooling and heating in the solar chromosphere
• Evidence of Non-Thermal Particles in Coronal Loops Heated Impulsively by Nanoflares
• Deducing Electron Properties From Hard X-Ray Observations
• Non-equilibrium hydrogen ionization in 2D simulations of the solar atmosphere
• Radiative transfer with scattering for domain-decomposed 3D MHD simulations of cool stellar atmospheres
• The spectral evolution of impulsive solar X-ray flares
• Bombs and flares at the surface and lower atmosphere of the Sun
• Relations between concurrent hard X-ray sources in solar flares
• Energy Distribution of Micro-events in the Quiet Solar Corona
• Magneto-acoustic waves in sunspots: first results from a new 3D nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic code
• Formation of Power-law Electron Energy Spectra in Three-dimensional Low-$\beta$ Magnetic Reconnection
• Ellerman bombs and UV bursts: transient events in chromospheric current sheets
• Stochastic Acceleration in Turbulent Electric Fields Generated by 3-D Reconnection
• Investigating the response of loop plasma to nanoflare heating using RADYN simulations
• Combined Modeling of Acceleration, Transport, and Hydrodynamic Response in Solar Flares: I. The Numerical Model
• Accelerated electrons observed down to <7 keV in a NuSTAR solar microflare
• Magnetic reconnection during collisionless, stressed, X-point collapse using Particle-in-Cell simulation
• Electron Acceleration in Solar Flares: Theory of Spectral Evolution
• A fully self-consistent model for solar flares
• Clusters of small eruptive flares produced by magnetic reconnection in the sun
• Particle trajectories and acceleration during 3D fan reconnection
• Kinetic modeling of particle acceleration in a solar null point reconnection region
• Solar Particle Acceleration at Reconnecting 3D Null Points
• The spectral evolution of impulsive solar X-ray flares. II.Comparison of observations with models
• Combined Modeling of Acceleration, Transport, and Hydrodynamic Response in Solar Flares. II. Inclusion of Radiative Transfer with RADYN
• The Role of Energy Diffusion in the Deposition of Energetic Electron Energy in Solar and Stellar Flares
• Non-thermal electrons from solar nanoflares
• Spatially inhomogeneous acceleration of electrons in solar flares

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Probing the physics of the solar atmosphere with the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE): I. Coronal Heating
• Eruptions from coronal bright points: A spectroscopic view by IRIS of a mini-filament eruption, QSL reconnection, and reconnection-driven outflows
• The X-ray emission of gamma Cassiopeiae during the 2020-2021 disc eruption
• Chromospheric emission from nanoflare heating in RADYN simulations
• Modeling of Chromospheric Features and Dynamics in Solar Plage
• Multifrequency microwave imaging of weak transients from the quiet solar corona
• Accelerated particle beams in a 3D simulation of the quiet Sun. Lower atmospheric spectral diagnostics
• Test particle sampling and particle acceleration in a 2D coronal plasmoid-mediated reconnecting current sheet
• The chromospheric component of coronal bright points. Coronal and chromospheric responses to magnetic-flux emergence