Measurement of Vector Magnetic Field in a Flare kernel with a Spectropolarimetric Observation in He I 10830 A

TL;DR

This study measures the magnetic field in a solar flare kernel using spectropolarimetric observations of He I 10830 A, revealing a significant increase in magnetic strength during the flare and providing insights into electron acceleration processes.

Contribution

It presents a novel spectropolarimetric analysis of the magnetic field in a flare kernel, incorporating Zeeman and Paschen-Back effects with a three-slab model, and links magnetic changes to non-thermal electron activity.

Findings

Magnetic field strength in the flare kernel increased from 690 G to 1400 G.

He I triplet emission is produced in deep layers influenced by non-thermal electrons.

Derived non-thermal electron cutoff energy of 20-30 keV aligns with RHESSI X-ray data.

Abstract

A flare kernel associated with a C4 class flare was observed in a spectral window including the He I triplet 10830 A and Si I 10827 A with a spectropolarimeter on the Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory on August 9th, 2015. Observed Stokes profiles of the He I triplet in the flare kernel in its post-maximum phase are well reproduced through inversions considering the Zeeman and the Paschen-Back effects with a three slab model of the flare kernel, in which two slabs having up and downward velocities produce emissions and one slab produces an absorption. The magnetic field strength inferred from the emission components of the He I line is 1400 G, which is significantly stronger than 690 G that is observed at the same location in the same line 6.5 hours before the flare. In addition, photospheric magnetic field vector derived from the Si I10827 A is similar to that of the flare kernel. To explain this results, we suggest that the emission in the He I triplet during the flare is produced in the deep layer, around which bombardment of non-thermal electrons leads to the formation of a coronal temperature plasma. Assuming a hydrogen column density at the location where the He I emissions are formed, and a power-law index of non-thermal electron energy distribution, we derived the low-energy cutoff of the non-thermal electron as 20 - 30 keV, which is consistent with that inferred from hard X-ray data obtained by RHESSI.