Estimate of the Upper Limit on Hot Plasma Differential Emission Measure (DEM) in Non-Flaring Active Regions and Nanoflare Frequency Based on the Mg XII Spectroheliograph Data from CORONAS-F/SPIRIT

TL;DR

This study uses Mg XII spectroheliograph data to set an upper limit on hot plasma emission in non-flaring active regions, finding no detectable hot plasma and constraining nanoflare heating models.

Contribution

It provides the first direct observational upper limit on hot plasma in non-flaring regions using monochromatic imaging, refining nanoflare heating theories.

Findings

Hot plasma detected only in flaring regions.

Upper limit on hot plasma emission measure in non-flaring regions is 3 x 10^24 cm^-5.

No significant hot plasma emission observed in non-flaring active regions.

Abstract

The nanoflare-heating theory predicts steady hot plasma emission in the non-flaring active regions. It is hard to find this emission with conventional non-monochromatic imagers (such as Atmospheric Imaging Assembly or X-Ray Telescope), because their images contain a cool temperature background. In this work, we search for hot plasma in non-flaring active regions using the Mg XII spectroheliograph onboard Complex Orbital Observations Near-Earth of Activity on the Sun (CORONAS)-F/SPectroheliographIc X-ray Imaging Telescope (SPIRIT). This instrument acquired monochromatic images of the solar corona in the Mg XII 8.42 \AA line, which emits only at temperatures higher than 4 MK. The Mg XII images contain the signal only from hot plasma without any low-temperature background. We studied the hot plasma in active regions using the SPIRIT data from 18-28 February 2002. During this period, the Mg XII spectroheliograph worked with a 105-second cadence almost without data gaps. The hot plasma was observed only in the flaring active regions. We do not observe any hot plasma in non-flaring active regions. The hot plasma column emission measure in the non-flaring active region should not exceed $3 \times 10^{24}$ cm$^{-5}$. The hot Differential Emission Measure (DEM) is less than 0.01 % of the DEM of the main temperature component. Absence of Mg XII emission in the non-flaring active regions can be explained by weak and frequent nanoflares (delay less than 500 seconds) or by very short and intense nanoflares that lead to non-equilibrium ionization.