arXiv subjects

Sam Krucker

Publications and source records attributed to Sam Krucker.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Few Made It Out: A Multi-Messenger Study of an In Situ Solar Energetic Electron Event Driven by a Solar Jet

When in situ solar energetic electron (SEE) events are closely associated with nonthermal flares, the escaping electron population is frequently observed to be much smaller than the nonthermal-radiation-emitting population near the solar surface. If a single accelerated population drives both signatures, the physical mechanism causing this severe deficit of upward-propagating electrons remains poorly understood.Focusing on one of the 2022 November 10--12 SEE events associated with recurrent solar jets and interplanetary type III radio bursts, we present a new, combined microwave--X-ray analysis using the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA) and the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) aboard Solar Orbiter. This synergy enables, for the first time for such an event, spatially resolved diagnostics over a broad energy spectrum of the near-Sun energetic electrons, complemented by in situ measurements made by spacecraft at multiple heliocentric longitudes and distances. Consistent with earlier results based on in situ and X-ray data, our results show that only 0.1--1\% of energetic electrons escape into interplanetary space. Crucially, the new microwave spectral imaging analysis suggests that energetic electrons are strongly concentrated in a compact region just above a mini-flare arcade at the base of the jet spire, and that their number density decreases by at least two orders of magnitude in the direction of the jet spire away from this region. This steep gradient, revealed by the microwave diagnostics, points to efficient local acceleration and trapping in the region analogous to the above-the-looptop ``magnetic bottle'' region in major eruptive flares, allowing only a small fraction of electrons to access open magnetic field lines and enter interplanetary space.

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arXiv2024

Study of Particle Acceleration using Fine Structures and Oscillations in Microwaves from Electron Cyclotron Maser

The accelerated electrons during solar flares produce radio bursts and nonthermal X-ray signatures. The quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) and fine structures in spatial-spectral-temporal space in radio bursts depend on the emission mechanism and the local conditions, such as magnetic fields, electron density, and pitch angle distribution. Radio burst observations with high frequency-time resolution imaging provide excellent diagnostics. In converging magnetic field geometries, the radio bursts can be produced via the electron-cyclotron maser (ECM). Recently, using observations made by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at 1--2 GHz, \cite{Yu2023} reported a discovery of long-lasting auroral-like radio bursts persistent over a sunspot and interpreted them as ECM-generated emission. Here, we investigate the detailed second and sub-second temporal variability of this continuous ECM source. We study the association of 5-second period QPPs with a concurrent GOES C1.5-class flare, utilizing VLA's imaging spectroscopy capability with an extremely high temporal resolution (50 ms). We use the density and magnetic field extrapolation model to constrain the ECM emission to the second harmonic o-mode. Using the delay of QPPs from X-ray emission times, combined with X-ray spectroscopy and magnetic extrapolation, we constrain the energies and pitch angles of the ECM-emitting electrons to $\approx$4-8 keV and $>26^{\circ}$. Our analysis shows that the loss-cone diffusion continuously fuels the ECM via Coulomb collisions and magnetic turbulence between a 5 Mm--100 Mm length scale. We conclude that the QPP occurs via the Lotka-Volterra system, where the electron from solar flares saturates the continuously operating ECM and causes temporary oscillations.

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arXiv2024

FOXSI-2: Upgrades of the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager for its Second Flight

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) sounding rocket payload flew for the second time on 2014 December 11. To enable direct Hard X-Ray (HXR) imaging spectroscopy, FOXSI makes use of grazing-incidence replicated focusing optics combined with fine-pitch solid-state detectors. FOXSI's first flight provided the first HXR focused images of the Sun. For FOXSI's second flight several updates were made to the instrument including updating the optics and detectors as well as adding a new Solar Aspect and Alignment System (SAAS). This paper provides an overview of these updates as well as a discussion of their measured performance.

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arXiv2023

Variation of the electron flux spectrum along a solar flare loop as inferred from STIX hard X-ray observations

Regularized imaging spectroscopy was introduced for the construction of electron flux images at different energies from count visibilities recorded by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). In this work we seek to extend this approach to data from the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) on-board the Solar Orbiter mission. Our aims are to demonstrate the feasibility of regularized imaging spectroscopy as a method for analysis of STIX data, and also to show how such analysis can lead to insights into the physical processes affecting the nonthermal electrons responsible for the hard X-ray emission observed by STIX. STIX records imaging data in an intrinsically different manner from RHESSI. Rather than sweeping the angular frequency plane in a set of concentric circles (one circle per detector), STIX uses $30$ collimators, each corresponding to a specific angular frequency. In this paper we derive an appropriate modification of the previous computational approach for the analysis of the visibilities observed by STIX. This approach also allows for the observed count data to be placed into non-uniformly-spaced energy bins. We show that the regularized imaging spectroscopy approach is not only feasible for analysis of the visibilities observed by STIX, but also more reliable. Application of the regularized imaging spectroscopy technique to several well-observed flares reveals details of the variation of the electron flux spectrum throughout the flare sources. We conclude that the visibility-based regularized imaging spectroscopy approach is well-suited to analysis of STIX data. We also use STIX electron flux spectral images to track, for the first time, the behavior of the accelerated electrons during their path from the acceleration site in the solar corona toward the chromosphere

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arXiv2022

Detection of weak ubiquitous impulsive nonthermal emissions from the solar corona

A ubiquitous presence of weak energy releases is one of the most promising hypotheses to explain coronal heating, referred to as the nanoflare hypothesis. The accelerated electrons associated with such weak heating events are also expected to give rise to coherent impulsive emission via plasma instabilities in the meterwave radio band, making this a promising spectral window to look for their presence. Recently \citet{Mondal2020b} reported the presence of weak impulsive emissions from quiet Sun regions which seem to meet the requirements of being radio counterparts of the hypothesized nanoflares. Detection of such low-contrast weak emission from the quiet Sun is challenging and, given their implications, it is important to confirm their presence. In this work, using data from the Murchison Widefield Array, we explore the use of an independent robust approach for their detection by separating the dominant slowly varying component of emission from the weak impulsive one in the visibility domain. We detect milli-SFU level bursts taking place all over the Sun and characterize their brightness temperatures, distributions, morphologies, durations and association with features seen in EUV images. We also attempt to constraint the energies of the nonthermal particles using inputs from the FORWARD coronal model along with some reasonable assumptions and find them to lie in the sub-pico flare ($\sim 10^{19}-10^{21}$ ergs) range. In the process, we also discover perhaps the weakest type III radio burst and another one that shows clear signatures of weakest quasi-periodic pulsations.

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arXiv2022

The coupling of an EUV coronal wave and ion acceleration in a Fermi-LAT behind-the-limb solar flare

We present the Fermi-LAT observations of the behind-the-limb (BTL) flare of July 17, 2021 and the joint detection of this flare by STIX onboard Solar Orbiter. The separation between Earth and the Solar Orbiter was 99.2$^{\circ}$ at 05:00 UT, allowing STIX to have a front view of the flare. The location of the flare was ~S20E140 in Stonyhurst heliographic coordinates making this the most distant behind-the-limb flare ever detected in $>$100 MeV gamma-rays. The LAT detection lasted for $\sim$16 minutes, the peak flux was $ 3.6 \pm 0.8 $ (10$^{-5}$) ph cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ with a significance $>$15$\sigma$. A coronal wave was observed from both STEREO-A and SDO in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) with an onset on the visible disk in coincidence with the LAT onset. A complex type II radio burst was observed by GLOSS also in coincidence with the onset of the LAT emission indicating the presence of a shock wave. We discuss the relation between the time derivative of the EUV wave intensity profile at 193\angstrom\ as observed by STEREO-A and the LAT flux to show that the appearance of the coronal wave at the visible disk and the acceleration of protons as traced by the observed $>$100 MeV gamma-ray emission are coupled. We also report how this coupling is present in the data from 3 other BTL flares detected by Fermi-LAT suggesting that the protons driving the gamma-ray emission of BTL solar flares and the coronal wave share a common origin.

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arXiv2022

Forward-fitting STIX visibilities

Aima. To determine to what extent the problem of forward fitting visibilities measured by the Spectrometer/Telescope Imaging X-rays (STIX) on-board Solar Orbiter is more challenging with respect to the same problem in the case of previous hard X-ray solar imaging missions; to identify an effective optimization scheme for parametric imaging for STIX. Methods. This paper introduces a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm for forward fitting STIX visibilities and compares its effectiveness with respect to the standard simplex-based optimization algorithm used so far for the analysis of visibilities measured by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). This comparison is made by considering experimental visibilities measured by both RHESSI and STIX, and synthetic visibilities generated by accounting for the STIX signal formation model. Results. We found out that the parametric imaging approach based on PSO is as reliable as the one based on the simplex method in the case of RHESSI visibilities. However, PSO is significantly more robust when applied to STIX simulated and experimental visibilities. Conclusions. Standard deterministic optimization is not effective enough for forward-fitting the few visibilities sampled by STIX in the angular frequency plane. Therefore a more sofisticated optimization scheme must be introduced for parametric imaging in the case of the Solar Orbiter X-ray telescope. The forward-fitting routine based on PSO we introduced in this paper proved to be significantly robust and reliable, and could be considered as an effective candidate tool for parametric imaging in the STIX context.

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arXiv2021

Imaging from STIX visibility amplitudes

Aims: To provide the first demonstration of STIX Fourier-transform X-ray imaging using semi-calibrated (amplitude-only) visibility data acquired during the Solar Orbiter's cruise phase. Methods: We use a parametric imaging approach by which STIX visibility amplitudes are fitted by means of two non-linear optimization methods: a fast meta-heuristic technique inspired by social behavior, and a Bayesian Monte Carlo sampling method, which, although slower, provides better quantification of uncertainties. Results: When applied to a set of solar flare visibility amplitudes recorded by STIX on November 18, 2020 the two parametric methods provide very coherent results. The analysis also demonstrates the ability of STIX to reconstruct high time resolution information and, from a spectral viewpoint, shows the reliability of a double-source scenario consistent with a thermal versus nonthermal interpretation. Conclusions: In this preliminary analysis of STIX imaging based only on visibility amplitudes, we formulate the imaging problem as a non-linear parametric issue we addressed by means of two high-performance optimization techniques that both showed the ability to sample the parametric space in an effective fashion, thus avoiding local minima.

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arXiv2020

FOXSI-2 Solar Microflares I : Multi-instrument Differential Emission Measure Analysis and Thermal Energies

In this paper we present the differential emission measures (DEMs) of two sub-A class microflares observed in hard X-rays (HXRs) by the FOXSI-2 sounding rocket experiment, on 2014 December 11. The second FOXSI (Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager) flight was coordinated with instruments Hinode/XRT and SDO/AIA, which provided observations in soft X-rays (SXR) and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV). This unique dataset offers an unprecedented temperature coverage useful for characterizing the plasma temperature distribution of microflares. By combining data from FOXSI-2, XRT, and AIA, we determined a well-constrained DEM for the microflares. The resulting DEMs peak around 3MK and extend beyond 10MK. The emission measures determined from FOXSI-2 were lower than 10 26cm-5 for temperatures higher than 5MK; faint emission in this range is best measured in HXRs. The coordinated FOXSI-2 observations produce one of the few definitive measurements of the distribution and the amount of plasma above 5MK in microflares. We utilize the multi-thermal DEMs to calculate the amount of thermal energy released during both the microflares as ~ 5.0 x 10 28 ergs for Microflare 1 and ~ 1.6 x 10 28 ergs for Microflare 2. We also show the multi-thermal DEMs provide a more comprehensive thermal energy estimates than isothermal approximation, which systematically underestimates the amount of thermal energy released.

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arXiv2019

Hot plasma in a quiescent solar active region as measured by RHESSI, XRT, and AIA

This paper investigates a quiescent (non-flaring) active region observed on July 13, 2010 in EUV, SXR, and HXRs to search for a hot component that is speculated to be a key signature of coronal heating. We use a combination of RHESSI imaging and long-duration time integration (up to 40 min) to detect the active regions in the 3-8 keV range during apparently non-flaring times. The RHESSI imaging reveals a hot component that originates from the entire active region, as speculated for a nanoflare scenario where the entire active region is filled with a large number of unresolved small energy releases. An isothermal fit to the RHESSI data gives temperatures around ~7 MK with emission measure of several times 10^46 cm^-3. Adding EUV and SXR observations taken by AIA and XRT, respectively, we derive a differential emission measure (DEM) that shows a peak between 2 and 3 MK with a steeply decreasing high-temperature tail, similar to what has been previously reported. The derived DEM reveals that a wide range of temperatures contributes to the RHESSI flux (e.g. 40 % of the 4 keV emission being produced by plasma below 5 MK, while emission at 7 keV is almost exclusively from plasmas above 5 MK) indicating that the RHESSI spectrum should not be fitted with an isothermal. The hot component has a rather small emission measure (~0.1 % of the total EM is above 5 MK), and the derived thermal energy content is of the order of 10 % for a filling factor of unity, or potentially below 1 % for smaller filling factors.

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arXiv2018

Hard X-Ray Constraints on Small-Scale Coronal Heating Events

Much evidence suggests that the solar corona is heated impulsively, meaning that nanoflares may be ubiquitous in quiet and active regions (ARs). Hard X-ray (HXR) observations with unprecedented sensitivity $>$3~keV are now enabled by focusing instruments. We analyzed data from the \textit{Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI)} rocket and the \textit{Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR)} spacecraft to constrain properties of AR nanoflares simulated by the EBTEL field-line-averaged hydrodynamics code. We generated model X-ray spectra by computing differential emission measures for homogeneous nanoflare sequences with heating amplitudes $H_0$, durations $\tau$, delay times between events $t_N$, and filling factors $f$. The single quiescent AR observed by \textit{FOXSI-2} on 2014 December 11 is well fit by nanoflare sequences with heating amplitudes 0.02 erg cm$^{-3}$ s$^{-1}$ $<$ $H_0$ $<$ 13 erg cm$^{-3}$ s$^{-1}$ and a wide range of delay times and durations. We exclude delays between events shorter than $\sim$900 s at the 90\% confidence level for this region. Three of five regions observed by {\nustar} on 2014 November 1 are well fit by homogeneous nanoflare models, while two regions with higher fluxes are not. Generally, the {\nustar} count spectra are well fit by nanoflare sequences with smaller heating amplitudes, shorter delays, and shorter durations than the allowed \textit{FOXSI-2} models. These apparent discrepancies are likely due to differences in spectral coverage between the two instruments and intrinsic differences among the regions. Steady heating ($t_N$ = $\tau$) was ruled out with $>$99\% confidence for all regions observed by either instrument.

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arXiv2016

Simulation of Quiet-Sun Hard X-rays Related to Solar Wind Superhalo Electrons

In this paper, we propose that the accelerated electrons in the quiet Sun could collide with the solar atmosphere to emit Hard X-rays (HXRs) via non-thermal bremsstrahlung, while some of these electrons would move upwards and escape into the interplanetary medium, to form a superhalo electron population measured in the solar wind. After considering the electron energy loss due to Coulomb collisions and the ambipolar electrostatic potential, we find that the sources of the superhalo could only occur high in the corona (at a heliocentric altitude $\gtrsim 1.9$ R$_\odot$ (the mean radius of the Sun)), to remain a power-law shape of electron spectrum as observed by STEREO at 1AU near solar minimum (Wang et al., 2012). The modeled quiet-Sun HXRs related to the superhalo electrons fit well to a power-law spectrum, $f \sim \varepsilon^{-\gamma}$, with an index $\gamma$ $\approx$ 2.0 - 2.3 (3.3 - 3.7) at 10 - 100 keV, for the warm/cold thick-target (thin-target) emissions produced by the downward-traveling (upward-traveling) accelerated electrons. These simulated quiet-Sun spectra are significantly harder than the observed spectra of most solar HXR flares. Assuming that the quiet-Sun sources cover 5% of the solar surface, the modeled thin-target HXRs are more than six orders of magnitude weaker than the RHESSI upper limit for quiet-Sun HXRs (Hannah et al., 2010). Using the thick-target model for the downward-traveling electrons, the RHESSI upper limit restricts the number of downward-traveling electrons to at most $\approx$3 times the number of escaping electrons. This ratio is fundamentally different from what is observed during solar flares associated with escaping electrons where the fraction of downward-traveling electrons dominates by a factor of 100 to 1000 over the escaping population.

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arXiv2015

Particle Acceleration by a Solar Flare Termination Shock

Solar flares - the most powerful explosions in the solar system - are also efficient particle accelerators, capable of energizing a large number of charged particles to relativistic speeds. A termination shock is often invoked in the standard model of solar flares as a possible driver for particle acceleration, yet its existence and role have remained controversial. We present observations of a solar flare termination shock and trace its morphology and dynamics using high-cadence radio imaging spectroscopy. We show that a disruption of the shock coincides with an abrupt reduction of the energetic electron population. The observed properties of the shock are well-reproduced by simulations. These results strongly suggest that a termination shock is responsible, at least in part, for accelerating energetic electrons in solar flares.

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arXiv2015

Fine-pitch semiconductor detector for the FOXSI mission

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) is a NASA sounding rocket mission which will study particle acceleration and coronal heating on the Sun through high sensitivity observations in the hard X-ray energy band (5-15 keV). Combining high-resolution focusing X-ray optics and fine-pitch imaging sensors, FOXSI will achieve superior sensitivity; two orders of magnitude better than that of the RHESSI satellite. As the focal plane detector, a Double-sided Si Strip Detector (DSSD) with a front-end ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) will fulfill the scientific requirements of spatial and energy resolution, low energy threshold and time resolution. We have designed and fabricated a DSSD with a thickness of 500 {\mu}m and a dimension of 9.6 mm x 9.6 mm, containing 128 strips with a pitch of 75 {\mu}m, which corresponds to 8 arcsec at the focal length of 2 m. We also developed a low-noise ASIC specified to FOXSI. The detector was successfully operated in the laboratory at a temperature of -20 C and with an applied bias voltage of 300 V, and the energy resolution of 430 eV at a 14 keV line was achieved. We also demonstrated fine-pitch imaging successfully by obtaining a shadow image, hence the implementation of scientific requirements was confirmed.

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arXiv2015

Constraining Hot Plasma in a Non-flaring Solar Active Region with FOXSI Hard X-ray Observations

We present new constraints on the high-temperature emission measure of a non-flaring solar active region using observations from the recently flown Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager sounding rocket payload. FOXSI has performed the first focused hard X-ray (HXR) observation of the Sun in its first successful flight on 2012 November 2. Focusing optics, combined with small strip detectors, enable high-sensitivity observations with respect to previous indirect imagers. This capability, along with the sensitivity of the HXR regime to high-temperature emission, offers the potential to better characterize high-temperature plasma in the corona as predicted by nanoflare heating models. We present a joint analysis of the differential emission measure (DEM) of active region 11602 using coordinated observations by FOXSI, Hinode/XRT and Hinode/EIS. The Hinode-derived DEM predicts significant emission measure between 1 MK and 3 MK, with a peak in the DEM predicted at 2.0-2.5 MK. The combined XRT and EIS DEM also shows emission from a smaller population of plasma above 8 MK. This is contradicted by FOXSI observations that significantly constrain emission above 8 MK. This suggests that the Hinode DEM analysis has larger uncertainties at higher temperatures and that >8 MK plasma above an emission measure of 3x10^44 cm^-3 is excluded in this active region.

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arXiv2015

Magnetic field-line lengths inside interplanetary magnetic flux ropes

We report on the detailed and systematic study of field-line twist and length distributions within magnetic flux ropes embedded in Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs). The Grad-Shafranov reconstruction method is utilized together with a constant-twist nonlinear force-free (Gold-Hoyle) flux rope model to reveal the close relation between the field-line twist and length in cylindrical flux ropes, based on in-situ Wind spacecraft measurements. We show that the field-line twist distributions within interplanetary flux ropes are inconsistent with the Lundquist model. In particular we utilize the unique measurements of magnetic field-line lengths within selected ICME events as provided by Kahler et al. (2011) based on energetic electron burst observations at 1 AU and the associated type III radio emissions detected by the Wind spacecraft. These direct measurements are compared with our model calculations to help assess the flux-rope interpretation of the embedded magnetic structures. By using the different flux-rope models, we show that the in-situ direct measurements of field-line lengths are consistent with a flux-rope structure with spiral field lines of constant and low twist, largely different from that of the Lundquist model, especially for relatively large-scale flux ropes.

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arXiv2015

Sign singularity and flares in solar active region NOAA 11158

Solar Active Region NOAA 11158 has hosted a number of strong flares, including one X2.2 event. The complexity of current density and current helicity are studied through cancellation analysis of their sign-singular measure, which features power-law scaling. Spectral analysis is also performed, revealing the presence of two separate scaling ranges with different spectral index. The time evolution of parameters is discussed. Sudden changes of the cancellation exponents at the time of large flares, and the presence of correlation with EUV and X-ray flux, suggest that eruption of large flares can be linked to the small scale properties of the current structures.

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arXiv2011

A Statistical Survey of Hard X-ray Spectral Characteristics of Solar Flares with Two Footpoints

Using RHESSI data, we have analyzed some 172 hard X-ray peaks during 53 solar flares which exhibited a double-footpoint structure. Fitting both footpoints with power-laws, we find that spectral index differences range mostly between 0 to 0.6, and only rarely go beyond. Asymmetries between footpoints were not observed to be significantly dependent on their mean heliographic position, their relative position with respect to each other, nor their orientation with respect to the solar equator. Assuming a symmetric acceleration process, it is also clear that differences in footpoint spectral indices and footpoint flux ratios can seldom be attributed to a difference in column densities between the two legs of a coronal loop. Our results corroborate better the magnetic mirror trap scenario. Moreover, footpoint asymmetries are more marked during times of peak HXR flux than when averaging over the whole HXR burst, suggesting that the magnetic configuration evolves during individual HXR bursts. We observed also a linear correlation between the peak 50-keV flux and the peak GOES 1-8A channel flux, and that HXR burst duration seem correlated with loop length.

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