Bright ultraviolet knots as possible sources of coherent microwave radiation

Abstract

A distinctive feature of the September 6, 2012 event was that sources of narrow-band (2–4 GHz) sub-second pulses (SSP) were observed in small areas of flare loops with so-called bright ultraviolet knots with high plasma density up to 10¹¹ cm⁻³. Time profiles of hard X-rays of the flare, although similar to microwave light curves, do not have structures corresponding to SSP. Analysis of microwave, X-ray, and ultraviolet data has shown that the observable pulses of microwave radiation with a narrow spectral band are coherent in nature and are generated by electrons with energies of several tens of kiloelectronvolt in bright knots at a double plasma frequency. The results of the observations suggest that the appearance of bright knots is associated with local processes of energy release due to interaction of flare loops.