A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Electron Acceleration Simulations (EASI): An open-source tool to simulate electron acceleration in shocks
Authors: Nyberg, Seve; Vuorinen, Laura; Afanasiev, Alexandr; Annie John, Lidiya; Vainio, Rami
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Article number: A67
Volume: 708
ISSN: 0004-6361
eISSN: 1432-0746
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557951
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557951
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/523444422
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Aims. The aim of the this work is to investigate electron acceleration in shocks and present an easy-to-use simulation model that can be used to check resulting energetic particle populations from shock interactions.
Methods. A new open-source model is presented in the work for investigation of electron acceleration and electron beam generation and for further research within the heliophysics community. The model is a one-dimensional Monte Carlo model with physical input parameters, in which particles obey a transport equation in a large-scale field with focusing caused by magnetic field gradients and in which the effects of a small-scale turbulent field on charged particles are described by pitch-angle scattering. The shock has a finite thickness and an adjustable mean free path profile. Particles are injected monoenergetically and with energies sampled from a Maxwellian distribution to investigate attained energies and beam generation.
Results. The simulation results indicate that particles can be accelerated to energies of >100 keV from a 1 keV monoenergetic injection with plasma and shock parameters corresponding to coronal shock environments. An electron beam linked to radio observations of shock waves can also be generated with sufficiently high shock obliquities and, in particular, with a Maxwellian distribution of particle injection energies. Moreover, as the model performs computationally well and corresponds to expectations based on physics, it is an excellent tool for investigating energetic electrons and radio observations corresponding to the electron beams generated in shock waves.
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Funding information in the publication:
This research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101134999 (SOLER). The study reflects only the authors’ view and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. This research has received funding from the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Varsinais-Suomi Regional fund. LV acknowledges the financial support of the University of Turku Graduate School and STFC grant ST/X000974/1. We acknowledge the Research Council of Finland project ‘SolShocks’ (grant number 354409). The work in the University of Turku is performed under the umbrella of Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space (FORESAIL; grant no. 352847).