New Insight into the Formation Mechanism of the Energetic Particle Reservoirs in the Heliosphere

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that energetic particle reservoirs in the heliosphere are better explained by stochastic diffusion in turbulent magnetic fields rather than deterministic reflecting boundaries, prompting a conceptual shift to 'floods'.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new explanation for particle reservoirs using diffusion processes, challenging the traditional boundary-based models.

Findings

Particle reservoirs are explained by magnetic turbulence diffusion.

Simulations reproduce reservoir phenomena without reflecting boundaries.

Suggests renaming reservoirs to 'floods' to reflect stochastic diffusion.

Abstract

The concept of energetic particle reservoirs, essentially based on the assumption of the presence of outer reflecting boundaries/magnetic mirrors or diffusion barriers (deterministic) rather than on the effect of particle diffusive propagation (stochastic) in magnetic turbulence, has been used for decades to describe the space-extended decay phases of energetic particle events within the fields of space physics, solar physics, and plasma physics. Using five-dimensional time-dependent Fokker-Planck transport equation simulations, in this work we demonstrate that the so-called particle reservoirs are naturally explained and quantitatively reproduced by diffusion processes in turbulent magnetic fields, without invoking the hypothesis of reflecting boundaries. Our results strongly suggest that the so-called "reservoir" (based on deterministic structure) should be renamed "flood" (based on stochastic diffusion), which symbolizes an authentic shift in thinking and in pragmatic rationale for the studies of energetic particles and relevant plasma phenomena in heliophysics and in astrophysics.