IMPULSIVE SOLAR X-RAY BURSTS: BREMSSTRAHLUNG RADIATION FROM A BEAM OF ELECTRONS IN THE SOLAR CHROMOSPHERE AND THE TOTAL ENERGY

摘要

Analysis of various aspects of impulsive x-ray bursts (IXB's) has lead us to consider a model where the x-rays are produced by Bremsstrahlung radiation from a beam of electrons directed toward the photosphere. We find that in general the x-ray spectrum from such a beam will fall off more rapidly than when the effect of the beaming of radiation is neglected. Furthermore, the spectral index of the resulting x-rays appears to increase by about unity for x-ray energies > 100 kev, a fact which may explain the observed cutoff in the spectrum of the IXB's. It is also shown that in such a model there is sufficient energy in the form of non-thermal electrons to explain the total energy (~ 1032 ergs) of a flare.