Hard X-Ray Bursts from MeV Neutral Beams
J.C. Brown 1,2 M. Karlicky 3, A.J. Conway1, and G.E. Penny1
1 Dept of Physics and Astronomy, Kelvin Building, University of Glasgow, GLASGOW G12 8QQ, UK
2 Astronomical Institute, Amsterdam NL
3 Astronomical Institute, 251 65 Ondrejov, Czech Republic
A mechanism, hitherto overlooked, will be described whereby a neutral beam in the few MeV range can produce significant HXR fluxes. Though requiring rather small number fluxes, the neutral beam model has energy efficiency substantially lower than that of a thick target electron beam and so is unlikely to be able to yield the most intense flare HXRBs observed, but high enough to provide a valuable HXR diagnostic of neutral beams in cases where these could heat the impulsive phase flare. Spectral and spatial features of the model will also be mentioned.