The Role of Magnetic Pumping in Particle Acceleration
in the Solar Atmosphere

Ya. K. Khodataev* and V. M. Fadeev**

* Institute of General Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Vavilova 38, Moscow, 117942 Russia

** NPP VNIIElectromekhaniki, ul. Vol’naya 30, Moscow, 105187 Russia

Received January 25, 1996

Abstract—Magnetic pumping in plasma is examined as a mechanism for accelerating particles near the zero
lines of dynamic (oscillating) current sheets. The acceleration rate, accelerated particle spectrum for the station-
ary case, and spectrum evolution equation for the nonstationary case are obtained for one approximation for the
particle scattering rate. Estimates made for the solar atmosphere with the simple formulas obtained show that
magnetic pumping can accelerate particles from the thermal level to energies of a few GeV in several minutes.
This mechanism can also operate under other conditions—in the atmospheres of red dwarves, in the tail of the
Earth’s magnetosphere, etc. Because it is a volume mechanism, it is especially efficient for the acceleration of
large numbers of particles to intermediate energies.

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