SPRG Seminars
February 8, 2011:
" The Role of Energetic Ions in Heating the Solar Corona, Powering Flares and Triggering CMEs "
George Simnett, University of Birmingham
The possibility that coronal heating occurs via the energy loss of non-thermal ions energised by magnetic reconnection in the high corona is examined. At low heliospheric latitudes the coronal magnetic field may be largely closed out to several solar radii. Magnetic reconnection may lead to the acceleration of charged particles to energies up to the MeV/nucleon region, a significant fraction of which will be trapped in the closed coronal magnetic field. The subsequent energy loss of these particles will heat the ambient plasma. Dumping of trapped particles into an active region may provide energy to power flares. Pressure of trapped particles may provide the trigger for CMEs. What fraction of the energy for all the above comes from energetic particles is a question that has not been seriously considered up to now.