The investigators will study electron and proton acceleration by the electric field associated with magnetic reconnection in the solar corona. Acceleration of charged particles to energies far exceeding the thermal energy is ubiquitous in cosmic plasma, especially in solar flares. The goal is to model self-consistently the rapid conversion of the coronal magnetic energy to the kinetic energy of fast particles by virtue of the reconnection process. Parameters of reconnecting current sheets will be determined self-consistently using a system of balance equations following from conservation laws. Regimes of both turbulent and entirely collisionless reconnection will be considered. Properties of the flaring coronal plasma and flare loops will be calculated and used as a means of testing the reconnection model. The n the energies, acceleration times, electron/proton ratios, and fluxes of accelerated particles will be calculated for various conditions in the corona. Electron-rich impulsive flares and X-ray hardening gradual flares that produce geo-effective protons will be specifically considered. New processes such as acceleration in time-dependent electric fields at magnetic null points and second-step acceleration in collapsing magnetic traps will be investigated. The study will emphasize analytical methods as well as comparisons between theoretical predictions and observations by Compton GRO, Yohkoh, and SOHO. Overall, the work is intended to be a step towards a unified modeling of global magnetic energy release and particle acceleration in flares and flare-like phenomena in space.
