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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Stochastic Electron Acceleration By Cascading Fast Mode Waves In Impulsive Solar Flares, James A. Miller, Ted N. La Rosa, Ronald L. Moore Apr 1996

Stochastic Electron Acceleration By Cascading Fast Mode Waves In Impulsive Solar Flares, James A. Miller, Ted N. La Rosa, Ronald L. Moore

Faculty Articles

We present a model for the acceleration of electrons from thermal to ultrarelativistic energies during an energy release fragment in an impulsive solar flare. Long-wavelength low-amplitude fast mode waves are assumed to be generated during the initial flare energy release (by, for example, large-scale restructuring of the magnetic field). These waves nonlinearly cascade to higher wavenumbers and eventually reach the dissipation range, whereupon they are transit-time damped by electrons in the tail of the thermal distribution. The electrons, in turn, are energized out of the tail and into substantially higher energies. We find that for turbulence energy densities much smaller …


Ion Viscosity Mediated By Tangled Magnetic Fields: An Application To Black Hole Accretion Disks, P. Subramanian, P. A. Becker, Menas Kafatos Jan 1996

Ion Viscosity Mediated By Tangled Magnetic Fields: An Application To Black Hole Accretion Disks, P. Subramanian, P. A. Becker, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We examine the viscosity associated with the shear stress exerted by ions in the presence of a tangled magnetic field. As an application, we consider the effect of this mechanism on the structure of black hole accretion disks. We do not attempt to include a self-consistent description of the magnetic field. Instead, we assume the existence of a tangled field with coherence length λcob• which is the average distance between the magnetic "kinks" that scatter the particles. For simplicity, we assume that the field is self-similar, and take λcob to be a fixed fraction ξ of the local disk height …