Non-thermal ionization and recombination processes during solar flares

✍ Scribed by M. Landini; B. C. Monsignori Fossi; R. Pallavicini

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1973
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 554 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0038-0938
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00153442

✦ Synopsis

Ionization and recombination processes are studied for a plasma of which the electrons follow a power-law energy distribution.

The rates for collisional ionization, radiative and dielectronic recombination and for autoionization are evaluated.

Numerical computations are performed for H-like, He-like and LMike ions fl'om neon to nickel as a function of the spectral index of the electron distribution. The ionization equilibrium is evaluated as well as the ratios of fluxes emitted in two lines pertaining to two successive ionization stages of the same element. A comparison with a few experimental data is made and the possibility of a non-thermal interpretation of X-ray line emission during solar flares is discussed.

where E is the electron energy, Are (cm-3) is the non-thermal electron density in the flare region, K and 7 are constants.

This spectrum has been suggested by both theoretical and experimental results on X-ray flare emission especially at photon energies > 10 keV (Holt and Cline, 1968;