3D Radiative MHD Modeling of Particle Beam Heating of the Solar Atmosphere

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Granovsky, Samuel, Kosovichev, Alexander G., Kitiashvili, Irina N., Wray, Alan A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914227675987968
author Granovsky, Samuel
Kosovichev, Alexander G.
Kitiashvili, Irina N.
Wray, Alan A.
author_facet Granovsky, Samuel
Kosovichev, Alexander G.
Kitiashvili, Irina N.
Wray, Alan A.
contents While solar flares are primarily associated with enhanced ultraviolet and X-ray emission, a subset of flares exhibit significant continuum brightening in visible light and are classified as white-light flares (WLFs). Despite extensive observational and modeling efforts, the physical mechanisms responsible for the compact, short-lived photospheric brightenings in WLF kernels observed during the impulsive phase of solar flares remain uncertain. Thick-target electron-beam models typically deposit energy in the upper chromosphere, and their ability to reproduce the magnitude and spatial localization of photospheric continuum enhancements observed in white-light flare kernels remains an open question. To investigate the role of realistic atmospheric structuring and multidimensional transport in flare energy deposition, we perform three-dimensional radiative MHD simulations of electron-beam heating using the StellarBox code for beam fluxes of $10^{12}$ erg\,s$^{-1}$\,cm$^{-2}$ and low-energy cutoffs of 10--25\,keV. We then compute Fe\,I 6173\,Å~Stokes profiles using the RH 1.5D radiative transfer code for direct comparison with Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) observations. The simulations produce strong upper-chromospheric heating, multiple shock fronts, and continuum enhancements up to a factor of 2.5 relative to pre-flare levels, comparable to continuum enhancements observed during strong X-class white-light flares. Comparison with one-dimensional RADYN simulations highlights the influence of fine-scale structuring on flare dynamics and continuum emission that arises in three-dimensional geometry.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_24507
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle 3D Radiative MHD Modeling of Particle Beam Heating of the Solar Atmosphere
Granovsky, Samuel
Kosovichev, Alexander G.
Kitiashvili, Irina N.
Wray, Alan A.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
While solar flares are primarily associated with enhanced ultraviolet and X-ray emission, a subset of flares exhibit significant continuum brightening in visible light and are classified as white-light flares (WLFs). Despite extensive observational and modeling efforts, the physical mechanisms responsible for the compact, short-lived photospheric brightenings in WLF kernels observed during the impulsive phase of solar flares remain uncertain. Thick-target electron-beam models typically deposit energy in the upper chromosphere, and their ability to reproduce the magnitude and spatial localization of photospheric continuum enhancements observed in white-light flare kernels remains an open question. To investigate the role of realistic atmospheric structuring and multidimensional transport in flare energy deposition, we perform three-dimensional radiative MHD simulations of electron-beam heating using the StellarBox code for beam fluxes of $10^{12}$ erg\,s$^{-1}$\,cm$^{-2}$ and low-energy cutoffs of 10--25\,keV. We then compute Fe\,I 6173\,Å~Stokes profiles using the RH 1.5D radiative transfer code for direct comparison with Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) observations. The simulations produce strong upper-chromospheric heating, multiple shock fronts, and continuum enhancements up to a factor of 2.5 relative to pre-flare levels, comparable to continuum enhancements observed during strong X-class white-light flares. Comparison with one-dimensional RADYN simulations highlights the influence of fine-scale structuring on flare dynamics and continuum emission that arises in three-dimensional geometry.
title 3D Radiative MHD Modeling of Particle Beam Heating of the Solar Atmosphere
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24507