Rapid variations of Si IV spectra in a flare observed by IRIS at a sub-second cadence

TL;DR

This study reveals rapid, sub-second variations in Si IV spectral lines during a solar flare, linking plasma flows and oscillations to magnetic reconnection processes through high-cadence IRIS observations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of rapid Si IV spectral variations at 0.8 s cadence, connecting plasma flows, line broadening, and quasi-periodic pulsations during a flare.

Findings

Detected sub-10 second oscillations in line parameters.

Correlated line broadening with plasma downflows and condensation flows.

Linked spectral oscillations with magnetic reconnection-driven pulsations.

Abstract

We report on observations of highly-varying Si IV 1402.77 line profiles observed with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) during the M-class flare from 2022 January 18 at an unprecedented 0.8 s cadence. Moment analysis of this line observed in flare ribbon kernels showed that the intensity, Doppler velocity, and non-thermal broadening exhibited variations with periods below 10 s. These variations were found to be correlated with properties of the Gaussian fit to a well-resolved secondary component of the line redshifted by up to 70 km s$^{-1}$, while the primary component was consistently observed near the rest wavelength of the line. A particularly high correlation was found between the non-thermal broadening of the line resulting from the moment analysis and the redshift of the secondary component. This means that the oscillatory enhancements in the line broadening were due to plasma flows (away from the observer) with varying properties. A simple de-projection of the Doppler velocities of the secondary component based on a three-dimensional reconstruction of flare loops rooted in the kernel suggests that the observed flows were caused by downflows and compatible with strong condensation flows recently predicted by numerical simulations. Furthermore, peaks of the intensity and the trends of Doppler velocity of the Gaussian fit to the secondary component (averaged in the ribbon) were found to correspond to one of the quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) detected during the event in the soft X-ray flux (as measured by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES) and the microwave radio flux (as measured by the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array, EOVSA). This result supports a scenario in which the QPPs were driven by repeated magnetic reconnection.