On the Turbulent Reduction of Drifts for Solar Energetic Particles

Particle drifts perpendicular to the background magnetic field have been proposed by some authors as an explanation for the very efficient perpendicular transport of solar energetic particles (SEPs). This process, however, competes with perpendicular diffusion caused by magnetic turbulence, which can also disrupt the drift patterns and reduce the magnitude of drift effects. The latter phenomenon is well known in cosmic-ray studies, but not yet considered in SEP models. Additionally, SEP models that do not include drifts, especially for electrons, use turbulent drift reduction as a justification of this omission, without critically evaluating or testing this assumption. This article presents the first theoretical step for a theory of drift suppression in SEP transport. This is done by deriving the turbulence-dependent drift reduction function with a pitch-angle dependence, as is applicable for anisotropic particle distributions, and by investigating to what extent drifts will be reduced in the inner heliosphere for realistic turbulence conditions and different pitch-angle dependencies of the perpendicular diffusion coefficient. The influence of the derived turbulent drift reduction factors on the transport of SEPs are tested, using a state-of-the-art SEP transport code, for several expressions of theoretically derived perpendicular diffusion coefficients. It is found, for realistic turbulence conditions in the inner heliosphere, that cross-field diffusion will have the largest influence on the perpendicular transport of SEPs, as opposed to particle drifts.

Magnetic turbulence in supernova remnants: perspective for IXPE polarimeter

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are well known sources of the non-thermal radiation, particle acceleration and magnetic field generation and amplification. Synchrotron radiation of the accelerated electrons in the magnetic field is an important emission mechanism in SNRs that can dominate in radio and X-ray energy bands. Turbulent magnetic field yields to formation of the special inhomogeneous (clumpy) structure in the SNR synchrotron X-ray images. This structure could differ significantly on the SNR polarization maps for different types of the magnetic turbulence. A new family of the gas pixel detector X-ray polarimeters that are supposed to have good sensitivity and angular resolution should be well suited for SNR polarimetry. IXPE (NASA) will be the first polarimeter of this kind. Lately a model IXPE synchrotron polarization images of Tycho SNR were simulated in the 3 — 8 keV energy band. It was shown that IXPE observation time of ~ 1 Ms should be enough to distinguish characteristic features that are specific for some types of the magnetic turbulence. We perform simulations of Tycho SNR polarization maps for a wider set of energy bands in order to determine the most suitable energy range for study of the SNR turbulent magnetic field using IXPE. The dependence of the polarization degree on the photon energy is accurately considered in the simulations. IXPE background influence on the observations of Tycho SNR is also discussed here together with possible ways of data processing and interpretation reducing this effect.

Reconstruction of the magnetic connection from Mercury to the solar corona, during events in the solar proton fluxes observed by MESSENGER

<p>We present a study conducted on a number of selected events characterised by a significant increase in the solar proton fluxes measured by FIPS-MESSENGER during the period 2011-2013. For each of them, the magnetic connection between Mercury and the solar corona (Source Surface Field @2.5 R<sub>S</sub>) has been reconstructed, in order to identify the possible source of the accelerated particles on the solar surface. The transport of the magnetic field lines in the heliosphere is here evaluated with a Monte Carlo code that computes a random displacement at each step of the integration along the Parker magnetic field model. Such displacement is proportional to a “local” diffusion coefficient, which is a function of the fluctuation level and magnetic turbulence correlation lengths. The simulation is tailored to the specific events by using the observed values of solar wind velocity and magnetic fluctuation levels.</p>

The Influence of Magnetic Turbulence on the Energetic Particle Transport Upstream of Shock Waves

Energetic particles are ubiquitous in the interplanetary space and their transport properties are strongly influenced by the interaction with magnetic field fluctuations. Numerical experiments have shown that transport in both the parallel and perpendicular directions with respect to the background magnetic field is deeply affected by magnetic turbulence spectral properties. Recently, making use of a numerical model with three dimensional isotropic turbulence, the influence of turbulence intermittency and magnetic fluctuations on the energetic particle transport was investigated in the solar wind context. Stimulated by this previous theoretical work, here we analyze the parallel transport of supra-thermal particles upstream of interplanetary shock waves by using in situ particle flux measurements; the aim was to relate particle transport properties to the degree of intermittency of the magnetic field fluctuations and to their relative amplitude at the energetic particle resonant scale measured in the same regions. We selected five quasi-perpendicular and five quasi-parallel shock crossings by the ACE satellite. The analysis clearly shows a tendency to find parallel superdiffusive transport at quasi-perpendicular shocks, with a significantly higher level of the energetic particle fluxes than those observed in the quasi-parallel shocks. Furthermore, the occurrence of anomalous parallel transport is only weakly related to the presence of magnetic field intermittency.

Relative depolarization of the black hole photon ring in GRMHD models of Sgr A* and M87*

ABSTRACT Using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accreting black holes, we show that a suitable subtraction of the linear polarization per pixel from total intensity images can enhance the photon ring feature. We find that the photon ring is typically a factor of ≃2 less polarized than the rest of the image. This is due to a combination of plasma and general relativistic effects, as well as magnetic turbulence. When there are no other persistently depolarized image features, adding the subtracted residuals over time results in a sharp image of the photon ring. We show that the method works well for sample, viable GRMHD models of Sgr A* and M87*, where measurements of the photon ring properties would provide new measurements of black hole mass and spin, and potentially allow for tests of the ‘no-hair’ theorem of general relativity.