Modelling of Energetic Processes in the Solar Atmosphere using Monte Carlo Simulation Packages

• Grant number: 25/05783-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Solar System Astronomy
• Principal Investigator: Sérgio Szpigel
• Grantee: Sérgio Szpigel
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia (EE). Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Paulo
• Associated researchers: Adriana Benetti Marques Valio ; Alexander Lachlan Mackinnon ; Carlos Guillermo Giménez de Castro ; Cristina Hemilse Mandrini ; Hugh S Hudson ; Jean Pierre Raulin ; Jordi Tuneu Serra ; Melissa Pesce-Rollins ; Paulo José de Aguiar Simões

Abstract

The proposal of the present project is to develop and validate tools based on the Monte Carlo simulation packages FLUKA and GEANT4 for the modelling of energetic processes which occur in the solar atmosphere. Specifically, we will investigate the emission of hard X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range from keV to GeV produced by electrons and ions accelerated in solar flares and the emission of gamma-rays from the quiescent Sun in the energy range from GeV to TeV produced by nuclei of galactic cosmic rays (GCR). The exact mechanisms involved in the process of sudden release of energy stored in the magnetic field and in the processes of acceleration and transport of electrons and ions during solar flares are not yet fully understood. We expect that the modelling developed in this project for the analysis of emission spectra of hard X-rays and gamma-rays observed in solar flares will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of acceleration and transport of energetic electrons and ions and the structure and evolution of the ambient magneto-active plasma. Regarding the emission of gamma-rays from the quiescent Sun, none of the approaches proposed so far in the literature is able to satisfactorily describe the observed characteristics of the emission component from the solar disk, which is produced by collisions of nuclei of GCR with nuclei of the ambient solar atmosphere. One of the fundamental ingredients involved in the modelling of the observations of the emission of gamma-rays from the solar disk is the structure considered for the solar magnetic field. We expect that the modelling developed in this project will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the emission of gamma-rays from the quiescent Sun produced by nuclei of GCR. (AU)