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Lower Energy Cutoff of Nonthermal Electrons Derived from BATSE/CGRO Hard X-ray Observations

W.Q. Gan - No affiliation found

2002/01/01 Chapter DOI: 10.1016/S0964-2749(02)80136-6 Journal:

Abstract:

ABSTRACTA quantitative method to determine the lower energy cutoff (Ec) of power-law electron beams has been established. We applied this method to the 54 hard X-ray events observed with BATSE/Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO). The results show that about 75% observed broken-down double power-law spectra of hard X-rays can be explained by the power-law electron beams with a lower energy cutoff. The values of Ec, varying among the flares, are all greater than the usually accepted 20 keV! On average, Ec is about 69 keV. So high a lower energy cutoff of nonthermal electrons implies that the nonthermal electrons might not be so important in powering a solar flare as previously thought. The further significance of this finding is discussed.