An observational revisit of band-split solar type-II radio bursts

TL;DR

This study analyzes solar type-II radio burst band splits, finding that the frequency ratio remains narrowly distributed and does not support the upstream-downstream emission mechanism, challenging previous interpretations.

Contribution

The paper provides observational evidence that the band split ratio in solar type-II radio bursts is narrowly distributed and inconsistent with the upstream-downstream emission model.

Findings

The frequency ratio {} varies narrowly between 1.15 and 1.25.

No systematic variation of {} during burst evolution.

Weak or no correlation between source speed and {}.

Abstract

Band split of solar type II radio bursts, discovered several decades ago, is a fascinating phenomenon with the type-II lanes exhibiting two almost-parallel sub-bands with similar morphology. The underlying split mechanism remains elusive. One popular interpretation is that the splitting bands are emitted from the shock upstream and downstream, respectively, with their frequency ratio ({\gamma}) determined by the shock compression ratio. This interpretation has been taken as the physical basis for many published references. Here we report an observational analysis of type II events with nice split selected from the ground-based RSTN data from 2001 to 2014, in the metric-decametric wavelength. We investigate the temporal variation and distribution of {\gamma}, and conduct correlation analyses on the deduced spectral values. It is found that {\gamma} varies in a very narrow range with >80% of {\gamma} (one-minute averaged data) being between 1.15 to 1.25. For some well-observed and long-lasting events, {\gamma} does not show a systematic variation trend within observational uncertainties, from the onset to the termination of the splits. In addition, the parameters representing the propagation speed of the radio source (presumably the coronal shock) show a very weak or basically no correlation with {\gamma}. We suggest that these results do not favor the upstreamdownstream scenario of band splits.