Abstract
Acceleration of protons in a reconnecting current sheet (RCS), which forms as a consequence of filament eruption in the corona, is considered as a possible mechanism of generation of the relativistic particles during the late phase of solar flares. In order to explain the acceleration of protons and heavier ions up to several GeV in a time of < 0.1 s, the transverse electric field outside the RCS must be taken into account. Physically, this field is always present as a consequence of electric charge separation owing to the difference in the electron and proton masses. The new effect demonstrated in this paper is that the transverse electric field efficiently ‘locks’ nonthermal ions in the RCS, thus allowing their acceleration by the direct electric field in the RCS. The mechanism considered may be useful in construction of a model for generation of relativistic ions in large gamma-ray/proton flares.
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Litvinenko, Y.E., Somov, B.V. Relativistic acceleration of protons in reconnecting current sheets of solar flares. Sol Phys 158, 317–330 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00795666
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00795666