High Energy Phenomena On The Sun

The proceedings of a symposium of high energy phenomena on the sun are presented. The subjects discussed include the following: (1) flare theories and optical observations, (2) microwave and hard X-ray observations, (3) ultraviolet and soft X-ray emissions, (4) nuclear reactions in solar flares, (5) energetic particles from the sun, (6) magnetic fields and particle storage, and (7) radio emissions in the corona and interplanetary space.

Short Historical Overview In the 1940s, two phenomena in the ?eld of cosmic rays (CR) forced scientists to think that the Sun is a powerful source of high-energy particles. One of these was discovered because of the daily solar variation of CR, which the maximum number of CR observed near noon (referring to the existence of continuous ?ux of CR from the direction of the Sun); this became the experimental basis of the theory that CR’s ́ originate from the Sun (or, for that matter, from within the solar system) (Alfven 1954). The second phenomenon was discovered when large ?uxes of high energy particles were detected from several solar ?ares, or solar CR. These are the - called ground level events (GLE), and were ?rst observed by ionization chambers shielded by 10 cm Pb (and detected mainly from the secondary muon-component CR that they caused) during the events of the 28th of February 1942, the 7th of March 1942, the 25th of July 1946, and the 19th of November 1949. The biggest such event was detected on the 23rd of February 1956 (see the detailed description in Chapters X and XI of Dorman, M1957). The ?rst phenomenon was investigated in detail in Dorman (M1957), by ?rst correcting experimental data on muon temperature effects and then by using coupling functions to determine the change in particle energy caused by the solar-diurnal CR variation.