Previous abstract Next abstract

Session 70 - Solar Flares and Ejections.
Display session, Thursday, June 13
Tripp Commons,

[70.01] Runaway Electron Acceleration in Solar Flares

J. Sommer, J. A. Miller (Dept. of Physics, UAH)

We study the electric field acceleration of electrons in solar flares. The electric field energizes particles out of the background thermal plasma and to much higher energies, where they are responsible for producing observable X-rays and gamma rays. We describe this acceleration with a Boltzmann equation, which includes terms for the energy gain from the electric field as well as Coulomb collisions. We numerically solve this equation for a variety of conditions likely to be encountered in a flaring plasma. We apply our results specifically to the problem of impulsive solar flare acceleration, which involves the production of large fluxes of relativistic electrons over subsecond time scales. We also discuss the stability of the electron distribution and the generation of plasma waves.

Program listing for Thursday