Shock wave

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Space Science Reviews

Based upon recent evidence from abundance patterns of chemical elements in solar energetic particles (SEPs), and, ironically, the belated inclusion of H and He, we can distinguish four basic SEP populations: (1) SEP1—pure “impulsive” SEPs are produced by magnetic reconnection in solar jets showing steep power-law enhancements of $1\leq Z \leq 56$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mo>≤</mml:mo><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi><mml:mo>≤</mml:mo><mml:mn>56</mml:mn></mml:math> ions versus charge-to-mass ratio $A/Q$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:mi>Q</mml:mi></mml:math> from a $\approx 3$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mo>≈</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:math> MK plasma. (2) SEP2—ambient ions, mostly protons, plus SEP1 ions reaccelerated by the shock wave driven by the narrow coronal mass ejection (CME) from the same jet. (3) SEP3—a “gradual” SEP event is produced when a moderately fas...

Four Distinct Pathways to the Element Abundances in Solar Energetic Particles