Abstract
The trapping of energetic electrons and protons in a simple, arched magnetic field imbedded in the lower solar atmosphere was considered. The lifetime of electrons with kinetic energies up to about 1.5 MeV was found to be completely determined by the motion of the mirror points, provided the gyro-synchrotron loss can be neglected. The same motion also influences the lifetimes of more energetic electrons, up to 10 MeV. This was not found to be the case for protons in the range from 1 MeV to 100 GeV. Some fluid and streaming instabilities were also considered; they pull the particles upward, raise their mirror points, and increase their lifetime. The emission of gyro-synchrotron radiation and bremsstrahlung in this model has been related to observations. Using the duration of non-thermal X-ray peaks given by Kane (1969), the altitude of injection of energetic particles was estimated.
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Benz, A.O., Gold, T. Magnetically trapped particles in the lower solar atmosphere. Sol Phys 21, 157–166 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00155786
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00155786