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.

Accepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (15)

• RHESSI Microflare Statistics II. X-ray Imaging, Spectroscopy & Energy Distributions
• Evidence of Non-Thermal Particles in Coronal Loops Heated Impulsively by Nanoflares
• Non-equilibrium hydrogen ionization in 2D simulations of the solar atmosphere
• The spectral evolution of impulsive solar X-ray flares
• Relations between concurrent hard X-ray sources in solar flares
• Ellerman bombs and UV bursts: transient events in chromospheric current sheets
• Stochastic Acceleration in Turbulent Electric Fields Generated by 3-D Reconnection
• 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
• The spectral evolution of impulsive solar X-ray flares. II.Comparison of observations with models

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