Non-thermal and Kappa Distributions in Solar Flare Radiative Signatures

Frederic Effenberger*, Natasha Jeffrey

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Solar flare radiation signatures show evidence of non-thermal distributions pointing to high-energy electron distributions and non-Gaussian plasma turbulence processes. The Kappa function has become an important diagnostic tool in recent years to study these signatures in a quantitative way and connect them to specific physical processes of particle acceleration and transport. In solar flares, the thermal emission of the heated background plasma and the bremsstrahlung from non-thermal electrons are usually superimposed. The Kappa distribution, commonly employed to describe solar wind particle spectra, can also be a useful tool to describe this effect for solar flare electrons with a unified treatment. Here, we discuss the context of solar flare observations and modelling and review the current state of the application of Kappa distributions in solar flare research.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationKappa Distributions
Subtitle of host publicationFrom Observational Evidences via Controversial Predictions to a Consistent Theory of Nonequilibrium Plasmas
EditorsMarian Lazar, Horst Fichtner
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer
Pages89-103
ISBN (Electronic)9783030826239
ISBN (Print)9783030826222, 9783030826253
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jul 2021

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