Electron Acceleration in Solar Flares and the Role of Plasma Turbulence

本项目研究太阳耀斑的能量释放和粒子加速机理。耀斑能量的来源是载流磁场，其中大部分能量用于加速粒子，但能量究竟是如何消散或加速粒子的还不确定。直接加热、加速和产生等离子体波或湍流是可能的耗散通道。PI将通过将微波，硬x射线和伽玛射线观测结果与理论结果进行比较，逐步获得洞察力，在此过程中，较低的理解基础将进入更复杂的情况。具体来说，他将确定(1)背景热等离子体粒子是否可以有效地加速，(2)如何有效地解释观测结果，以及(3)可以做出哪些新的可测试的预测。该项目将支持一名研究生，并对耀斑问题有重要的了解，并提供有关地球周围磁层现象、其他行星、致密恒星和活动星系核的有用信息。

This project researches the energy release and particle acceleration mechanism in solar flares. The source of flare energy is the current-carrying magnetic field, and the bulk of this energy goes into the acceleration of particles, but exactly how the energy is dissipated or accelerates particles is uncertain. Direct heating, acceleration, and production of plasma waves or turbulence are possible dissipation channels. The PI will gain insight through comparing microwave, hard X-ray and gamma-ray observations with theoretical results in a gradual process, where lower foundations of understanding will proceed to more complex situations. Specifically, he will determine (1) if the background thermal plasma particles can be accelerated efficiently, (2) how effectively the observations can be explained, and (3) what new testable predictions can be made. The project will support one graduate student, and result in an important understanding of the flare problem, as well as giving useful information about magnetospheric phenomena around the earth, other planets, compact stars, and nuclei of active galaxies.