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Interplanetary Magnetic Field Line Mixing Deduced from Impulsive Solar Flare Particles
The Astrophysical Journal
|March 4, 2000
Summary
Solar flare ions show rapid intensity changes due to the random walk of magnetic fields. These variations reveal the mixing of the interplanetary magnetic field, offering insights into space plasma dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Space Physics
- Plasma Physics
- Solar Physics
Background:
- Impulsive solar flares accelerate ions to high energies.
- Understanding particle transport in the interplanetary medium is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate fine-scale temporal variations in ion arrival profiles from solar flares.
- Utilize particle data to study the mixing of the interplanetary magnetic field.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of ion data (20 keV to 2 MeV) from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.
- Examination of particle intensity variations and their correlation with magnetic field and plasma signatures.
- Modeling of magnetic flux tube convection to explain observed particle profiles.
Main Results:
- Observed short-timescale (approx. 3 hr) intensity variations across all energies.
- Variations were simultaneous and generally lacked correlation with local magnetic or plasma signatures.
- Deduced an average timescale of 3.2 hr for these features, corresponding to a length of approx. 0.03 AU.
Conclusions:
- Short-timescale particle variations are attributed to the convection of alternately filled and empty magnetic flux tubes.
- These observations provide a method to study the random walk and mixing of the interplanetary magnetic field.
- The study quantifies the timescale and length scales associated with magnetic field mixing in the inner heliosphere.