420
ISSN 0010-9525, Cosmic Research, 2018, Vol. 56, No. 6, pp. 420–425. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2018.
Original Russian Text © Yu.T. Tsap, I.N. Myagkova, Yu.G. Kopylova, G.G. Motorina, A.V. Bogomolov, T.B. Gol’dvarg, M.I. Panasyuk, S.I. Svertilov, V.V. Bogomolov, I.V. Yashin,
V.L. Petrov, 2018, published in Kosmicheskie Issledovaniya, 2018, Vol. 56, No. 6.
Electron Acceleration and Subsecond Time Delays of Hard X-Rays
of Solar Flares According to Lomonosov Satellite Data
Yu. T. Tsap
a, b,
*, I. N. Myagkova
c
, Yu. G. Kopylova
b
, G. G. Motorina
b
, A. V. Bogomolov
c
,
T. B. Gol’dvarg
d
, M. I. Panasyuk
c
, S. I. Svertilov
c
, V. V. Bogomolov
c
,
I. V. Yashin
c
, and V. L. Petrov
c
a
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nauchnyi, 298409 Russia
b
Central Astronomical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 196140 Russia
c
Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119899 Russia
d
Gorodovikov Kalmyk State University, Elista, 358000 Russia
*e-mail: yur_crao@mail.ru
Received March 17, 2018
Abstract—On the basis of satellite observations obtained with the help of X-ray and gamma-ray detector units
(BDRG/Lomonosov in Russian), using digital filtering methods, the analysis of time delays between the sec-
ond pulsations of time profiles of hard X-ray radiation of different frequency bands from the solar flare that
occurred on July 21, 2016 has been made. It is shown that the count rate in energy channels of 10–20, 20–35,
and 35–60 keV detected by BDRG/Lomonosov are correlated with an accuracy up to 0.1 s. The result agrees
well with the observations of the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on board the Fermi satellite and supposes an
effective acceleration of charged particles over the entire length of the flare magnetic arc.
DOI: 10.1134/S0010952518060096
1. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, it is beyond question that a significant
part of solar flare energy accounts for accelerated
charged particles [1]. However, when interpreting dif-
ferent flare phenomena, the question about the accel-
eration and propagation mechanisms of these particles
remains open. In this connection, the study of pecu-
liarities of time profiles of nonthermal flare radiation
over a broad range of wavelengths acquires a special
value.
A significant contribution to understanding of
nonthermal phenomena can be made by studying
delays τ between time profiles of hard X-ray emission
of different frequency bands generated by accelerated
electrons by means of bremsstrahlung mechanism.
Their existence was reported for the first time by Bai
and Ramaty [2]. They analyzed two powerful flare
events that occurred on August 4 and 7, 1972, which
were observed by the ESRO TD 1A satellite in four
low-energy (30–107 keV) and three high-energy
(107–430 keV) channels with a time resolution of 1.2
and 4.8 s, respectively. They came to the conclusion
that, at first, the time delays slowly increase from the
first to the fifth channel, reaching 5 s, then, starting
from the channel of 122–168 keV, they jump up to 15 s.
The authors have related the second delays to the
dependence of frequency v of collisions with the back-
ground plasma particles; the decasecond delays, to the
two-stage charged particle acceleration mechanism.
Later, the most detailed investigations of the time
delays of hard X-ray emission were conducted by
Aschwanden et al. [3–6], using 16 channels (20–
200 keV) of the Burst and Transient Source Experi-
ment (BATSE) setup aboard the Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory (CGRO) satellite for 108 events with a
time resolution of 0.064 s. For the overwhelming
number of events (80%) with a clearly pronounced
fine time structure that has a shape of second and sub-
second pulses, the positive time delays with a duration
of about 0.1 s and shorter were discovered [3, 4] (the
profiles of higher-energy channels are lagging with
respect to the low-energy channels). This result, as
well as images of sources obtained by YOHKOH [4],
formed the basis for the hypothesis of the connection
of delays with the time of flight of electrons from the
region of the top of the arch to its bases [6]. At that, the
time delays from 1 to 10 s for the so-called slow profile
component have proved to be negative; they demon-
strate a regular increase according to the ε
3/2
law, where
ε is photon energy [5]. According to the authors, these
results support indirectly the coronal magnetic trap
model in which the Coulomb diffusion of trapped
electrons to the loss cone dominates.
Cheng et al. [7], used the observational data
obtained by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar
Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) satellite with a time
resolution of 0.125, owing to the demodulation mech-
anism. To minimize the influence of noises, they ana-