Modeling the Emission from the 15 February 2011 Solar Flare using Multi-Filamented Simulations

Abstract:

The 15 February 2011 X-class solar flare was observed by numerous instruments in many spectral regimes making it an ideal case for studying the origins of flare emission. We have developed detailed 1D models describing the transport of flare-accelerated electrons and ions through magnetic flux loops in the solar atmosphere, how these particles heat the ambient plasma, and the emission produced from the flaring loops. However, because of their 1D geometry these models do not include important spatial information. For example, the flare impulsive phase may last several hundred seconds, but it is unlikely that flare-accelerated particles precipitate down a single flux loop for the duration of the entire impulsive phase. In fact, from high-resolution spatial observations we know that many filaments are successively heated in the impulsive phase. We will describe a novel approach which uses the timing of pulses in hard and soft X-ray fluxes observed during the 15 February 2011 flare as a proxy for the lifetime of the impulsive phase on individual loops. We will combine many loops simulated with our 1D flare loop model to construct a multi-filamented model of the Sun's atmospheric response and emission produced during this flare. We will compare this predicted emission to observations of obtained by the EVE, AIA and RHESSI instruments.