Numerical Study of the Longitudinally Asymmetric Distribution of Solar Energetic Particles in the Heliosphere

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations to analyze how solar energetic particles are asymmetrically distributed longitudinally in the heliosphere, revealing an east-west asymmetry influenced by magnetic field topology and diffusion effects.

Contribution

It provides a detailed numerical investigation of SEP transport, confirming and explaining the east-west asymmetry in SEP distributions in the heliosphere.

Findings

East-west asymmetry in SEP intensities confirmed

Asymmetry caused by magnetic field topology and diffusion

Results aid in space weather forecasting

Abstract

Solar energetic particles (SEPs) affect the solar-terrestrial space environment and become a very important aspect in space weather research. In this work, we numerically investigate the transport processes of SEPs in three-dimensional interplanetary magnetic field, with an emphasis on the longitudinal distribution of SEPs in the heliosphere. We confirm our previous finding that there exists an east-west longitudinal asymmetry in the SEP intensities, i.e., with the same longitude separations between the solar source centers and the magnetic footpoint of the observer, the fluxes of SEP events originating from solar sources located on the eastern side of the nominal magnetic footpoint of the observer are systematically larger than those of the SEP events originating from sources located on the western side. We discuss the formation mechanism of this phenomenon, and conclude that the longitudinally asymmetric distribution of SEPs results from the east-west azimuthal asymmetry in the topology of the heliospheric magnetic field as well as the effects of perpendicular diffusion on the transport of SEPs in the heliosphere. Our results will be valuable to understanding Sun-Earth relations and useful for space weather forecasting.