Numerical Simulations of Impulsively Heated Solar Flares

Abstract

The response of a model solar atmosphere to heating by an electron beam has been studied for electron beam flux spectra which are power laws with low-energy knees (rising linearly with time to a peak at 30 s and then falling linearly to 0 at 60 s) ranging from 10 to 20 keV. The results indicate that high peak electron beam fluxes, low-energy knees, and larger spectral indices all move the atmospheric response toward greater enhancements of the parameters in the coronal regions of the atmosphere. Coronal responses can thus be used as a diagnostic of the parameters of the electron beam. 23 refs.