A study on the dynamic spectral indices for SEP events on 2000 July 14 and 2005 January 20

TL;DR

This study analyzes the dynamic spectral indices of two significant solar energetic particle events in 2000 and 2005, revealing how different shock geometries influence particle acceleration and spectral evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of spectral index evolution in SEP events, linking shock geometry and flare location to particle acceleration efficiency.

Findings

Spectral indices increased rapidly at early times, indicating flare-related acceleration.

Eastern flank CME shocks produce softer spectra than western flank shocks.

Quasi-perpendicular shocks are more effective in accelerating particles.

Abstract

We have studied the dynamic proton spectra for the two solar energetic particle (SEP) events on 2000 July 14 (hereafter GLE59) and 2005 January 20 (hereafter GLE69). The source locations of GLE59 and GLE69 are N22W07 and N12W58 respectively. Proton fluxes >30 MeV have been used to compute the dynamic spectral indices of the two SEP events. The results show that spectral indices of the two SEP events increased more swiftly at early times, suggesting that the proton fluxes >30 MeV might be accelerated particularly by the concurrent flares at early times for the two SEP events. For the GLE69 with source location at N12W58, both flare site and shock nose are well connected with the Earth at the earliest time. However, only the particles accelerated by the shock driven by eastern flank of the CME can propagate along the interplanetary magnetic field line to the Earth after the flare. For the GLE59 with source location at N22W07, only the particles accelerated by the shock driven by western flank of the associated CME can reach the Earth after the flare. Results show that there was slightly more than one hour during which the proton spectra for GLE69 are softer than that for GLE59 after the flares, suggesting that the shock driven by eastern flank of the CME associated with GLE69 is weaker than the shock driven by the western flank of the CME associated with GLE59. The results support that quasi-perpendicular shock has stronger potential in accelerating particles than the quasi-parallel shock. The results also suggest that only a small part of the shock driven by western flank of the CME associated with the GLE59 is quasi-perpendicular.