arXiv subjects

Biswajit Mondal

Publications and source records attributed to Biswajit Mondal.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Elemental Composition Evolution during the 2024 September 30 Solar Eruption: A Comparison of Hot and Cool Plasma Components with Solar Orbiter/SPICE, Hinode/EIS, and Chandrayaan-2/XSM

Solar plasma composition differs between the photosphere and corona over a range of timescales, with preferential enhancement of elements with low first ionization potential (FIP). However, the physical origin of the FIP fractionation remains incompletely understood. Furthermore, during flares, the FIP bias also exhibits rapid changes, associated with fast transport of material with different FIP biases. We present novel observations from Solar Orbiter SPICE and EUI, Hinode/EIS, and Chandrayaan-2 XSM instruments, finding rapid abundance changes in the emitting plasma, on timescales of minutes, during the eruptive M7.6-class solar flare observed on 2024 Sept 30. These instruments have wide temperature coverage and find contrasting abundance-evolution patterns between the hotter and cooler plasma components. 3D reconstruction of the active region and additional observations from the Solar Orbiter STIX X-ray telescope show how the hot and cool plasma components, emitting in different spectral regions and observed with the various instruments, sample the plasma composition evolution in distinct locations within the observed flaring plasma. The bright post-flare loop tops observed by SPICE show coronal FIP bias, while the hot plasma observed with XSM exhibits FIP-bias decreasing from coronal to photospheric during the impulsive phase. We interpret these observations as evidence of the X-ray diagnostics seeing hot coronal reconnection outflows mixing with chromospheric plasma as flare loops sequentially energize and relax, explaining why the FIP bias decreases from coronal to a hybrid; and the cool loop tops seen with SPICE show coronal abundances due to coronal material deposited near the looptops.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Modeling Flare Continuum Emission Observed by Hinode/EIS: Instrument Calibration and Element Composition Results

Continuum emission from a solar flare observed with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on board the Hinode satellite is used to obtain the radiometric calibration of the instrument. The flare had a GOES class of M8, and peaked at 23:59 UT on 2024 September 30. The continuum is modeled by computing a differential emission measure curve using EIS emission lines and atomic data from the CHIANTI database. The ratio of the observed continuum to model continuum yields effective area curves for the instrument. The new curves confirm earlier findings that the EIS long-wavelength channel has degraded by a factor two compared to the short-wavelength channel. However, no evidence is found for the fine-scale structure in the effective area curves that has been presented by previous authors. In order to reproduce both the emission line intensities and the continuum, it is found that the plasma must be depleted in elements with low first ionization potentials (FIPs), i.e., the so-called inverse FIP-effect. In particular, the Fe/H relative abundance is found to be a factor 0.57 below the photospheric value at a temperature of 10 MK. This is confirmed by analysis of soft X-ray spectra from the Solar X-ray Monitor on Chandrayaan-2, which yields an Fe/H FIP bias of 0.55 averaged over the entire flare.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Flare-Driven Plasma Dynamics and Elemental Abundance Redistribution

Since the advent of X-ray and EUV spectroscopy, the discovery of the First Ionization Potential (FIP) effect--where coronal elemental compositions diverge from their photospheric values based on the element's FIP--has remained a key puzzle in solar and stellar astrophysics. These deviations exhibit significant fluctuations during flares, yet their connection to plasma dynamics has remained unclear. Here, we report a clear correlation between temperature-sensitive flaring plasma emission and element-specific abundance changes for a solar flare. These findings indicate that energy deposition in the chromosphere drives plasma evaporation from different chromospheric heights, modulating elemental abundances. Hydrodynamic simulations support these observations, showing that varying energy deposition magnitudes generate plasma upflows from different chromospheric heights, leading to element-specific FIP fractionation. These results provide new insights into the dynamic coupling of flare energy, plasma flows, and abundance variability, with implications for understanding coupling between different atmospheric layers.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2025

Subgroup perfect codes of $S_n$ in Cayley sum graphs

A perfect code in a graph $Γ= (V, E)$ is a subset $C$ of $V$ such that no two vertices in $C$ are adjacent, and every vertex in $V \setminus C$ is adjacent to exactly one vertex in $C$. Let $ G $ be a finite group, and let $ S $ be a square-free normal subset of $ G $. The Cayley sum graph of $ G $ with respect to $ S $ is a simple graph with vertex set $ G $ and two vertices $ x $ and $ y $ are adjacent if $ xy\in S .$ A subset $ C $ of $ G $ is called perfect code of $ G $ if there exists a Cayley sum graph of $ G $ that admits $ C $ as a perfect code. In particular, if a subgroup of $ G $ is a perfect code of $ G $, then the subgroup is called a subgroup perfect code of $ G $. In this work, we prove that there does not exist any proper perfect subgroup code of symmetric group $ S_n $. Using this result, we provide a complete characterization of the perfect subgroup code of the alternating group $A_n$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2025

Abundance Diagnostics from Slitless Imaging Spectrometer: A Proof-of-Concept for MaGIXS-2

Elemental abundance diagnostics in the solar corona are crucial for understanding energy transport, plasma heating, and magnetic activity. Most earlier imaging-spectroscopic studies have relied on slit-based spectrometers, which offer high spectral resolution but are limited in spatiotemporal coverage and temperature diagnostics. In contrast, slitless spectrographs like the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS) produce overlapping spatial-spectral data (overlappograms) to enable wide-field imaging spectroscopy with broader temperature coverage. However, extracting elemental abundances from overlappogram data remains inherently challenging due to spatial and spectral confusion. In this work, we present a proof-of-concept technique for elemental abundance diagnostics from overlappograms, demonstrating its feasibility with simulated MaGIXS-2 observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Nanoflare Heating During Active Region Evolution

Nanoflares are believed to be key contributors to heating solar non-flaring active regions, though their individual detection remains challenging. This study uses a data-driven field-aligned hydrodynamic model to examine nanoflare properties throughout the lifecycle of AR12758. We simulate coronal loop emissions, where each loop is heated by random nanoflares depending on the loop parameters derived from photospheric magnetograms observed by SDO/HMI. Simulated X-ray flux and temperature can reproduce the temporal variations observed by Chandrayaan-2/XSM. Our findings show that high-frequency nanoflares contribute to cool emissions across the AR, while low- and intermediate- frequency primarily contribute to hot emissions. During the emerging phase, energy deposition is dominated by low-frequency events. Post-emergence, energy is deposited by both low- and intermediate-frequency nanoflares, while as the AR ages, the contribution from intermediate- and high-frequency nanoflares increases. The spatial distribution of heating frequencies across the AR reveals a clear pattern: the core of the active region spends most of its time in a low-frequency heating state, the periphery is dominated by high-frequency heating, and the region between the core and periphery experiences intermediate-frequency heating.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2024

Determining the nanoflare heating frequency of an X-ray Bright Point observed by MaGIXS

Nanoflares are thought to be one of the prime candidates that can heat the solar corona to its multi-million kelvin temperature. Individual nanoflares are difficult to detect with the present generation instruments, however their presence can be inferred by comparing simulated nanoflare-heated plasma emissions with the observed emission. Using HYDRAD coronal loop simulations, we model the emission from an X-ray bright point (XBP) observed by the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS), along with nearest-available observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and X-Ray Telescope (XRT) onboard Hinode observatory. The length and magnetic field strength of the coronal loops are derived from the linear-force-free extrapolation of the observed photospheric magnetogram by Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard SDO. Each loop is assumed to be heated by random nanoflares, whose magnitude and frequency are determined by the loop length and magnetic field strength. The simulation results are then compared and matched against the measured intensity from AIA, XRT, and MaGIXS. Our model results indicate the observed emissions from the XBP under study could be well matched by a distribution of nanoflares with average delay times 1500 s to 3000 s, which suggest that the heating is dominated by high-frequency events. Further, we demonstrate the high sensitivity of MaGIXS and XRT to diagnose the heating frequency using this method, while AIA passbands are found to be the least sensitive.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Evolution of elemental abundances in hot active region cores from Chandrayaan-2 XSM observations

The First Ionization Potential (FIP) bias, whereby elemental abundances for low FIP elements in different coronal structures vary from their photospheric values and may also vary with time, has been widely studied. In order to study the temporal variation, and to understand the physical mechanisms giving rise to the FIP bias, we have investigated the hot cores of three ARs using disk-integrated soft X-ray spectroscopic observation with the Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) onboard Chandrayaan-2. Observations for periods when only one AR was present on the solar disk were used so as to ensure that the AR was the principal contributor to the total X-ray intensity. The average values of temperature and EM were ~3 MK and 3.0E46/cm3 respectively. Regardless of the age and activity of the AR, the elemental abundances of the low FIP elements, Al, Mg, and Si were consistently higher than their photospheric values. The average FIP bias for Mg and Si was ~3, whereas the FIP bias for the mid-FIP element, S, was ~1.5. However, the FIP bias for the lowest FIP element, Al, was observed to be higher than 3, which, if real, suggests a dependence of the FIP bias of low FIP elements on their FIP value. Another major result from our analysis is that the FIP bias of these elements is established in within ~10 hours of emergence of the AR and then remains almost constant throughout its lifetime.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Coronal Elemental Abundances during A-class Solar Flares Observed by Chandrayaan-2 XSM

The abundances of low First Ionisation Potential (FIP) elements are three to four times higher (FIP bias) in the closed loop active corona than in the photosphere, known as the FIP effect. Observations suggest that the abundances vary in different coronal structures. Here, we use the soft X-ray spectroscopic measurements from the Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) on board the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter to study the FIP effect in multiple A-class flares observed during the minimum of solar cycle 24. Using time-integrated spectral analysis, we derive the average temperature, emission measure, and the abundances of four elements - Mg, Al, Si, and S. We find that the temperature and emission measure scales with the flares sub-class while the measured abundances show an intermediate FIP bias for the lower A-flares (e.g., A1), while for the higher A-flares, the FIP bias is near unity. To investigate it further, we perform a time-resolved spectral analysis for a sample of the A-class flares and examine the evolution of temperature, emission measure, and abundances. We find that the abundances drop from the coronal values towards their photospheric values in the impulsive phase of the flares, and after the impulsive phase, they quickly return to the usual coronal values. The transition of the abundances from the coronal to photospheric values in the impulsive phase of the flares indicates the injection of fresh unfractionated material from the lower solar atmosphere to the corona due to chromospheric evaporation. However, explaining the quick recovery of the abundances from the photospheric to coronal values in the decay phase of the flare is challenging.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Role of small-scale impulsive events in heating the X-ray bright points of the quiet Sun

Small-scale impulsive events, known as nanoflares, are thought to be one of the prime candidates that can keep the solar corona hot at its multi-million Kelvin temperature. Individual nanoflares are difficult to detect with the current generation instruments; however, their presence can be inferred through indirect techniques such as a Differential Emission Measure (DEM) analysis. Here we employ this technique to investigate the possibility of nanoflare heating of the quiet corona during the minimum of solar cycle 24. During this minimum, active regions (ARs) were absent on the solar-disk for extended periods. In the absence of ARs, X-ray bright points (XBP) are the dominant contributor to disk-integrated X-rays. We estimate the DEM of the XBPs using observations from the Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) onboard the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamic Observatory. XBPs consist of small-scale loops associated with bipolar magnetic fields. We simulate such XBP loops using the EBTEL hydrodynamic code. The lengths and magnetic field strengths of these loops are obtained through a potential field extrapolation of the photospheric magnetogram. Each loop is assumed to be heated by random nanoflares having an energy that depends on the loop properties. The composite nanoflare energy distribution for all the loops has a power-law slope close to -2.5. The simulation output is then used to obtain the integrated DEM. It agrees remarkably well with the observed DEM at temperatures above 1 MK, suggesting that the nanoflare distribution, as predicted by our model, can explain the XBP heating.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2022

Soft X-ray Spectral Diagnostics of Multi-thermal Plasma in Solar Flares with Chandrayaan-2 XSM

Spectroscopic observations in X-ray wavelengths provide excellent diagnostics of the temperature distribution in solar flare plasma. The Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) onboard the Chandrayaan-2 mission provides broad-band disk integrated soft X-ray solar spectral measurements in the energy range of 1-15 keV with high spectral resolution and time cadence. In this study, we analyse X-ray spectra of three representative GOES C-class flares obtained with the XSM to investigate the evolution of various plasma parameters during the course of the flares. Using the soft X-ray spectra consisting of the continuum and well-resolved line complexes of major elements like Mg, Si, and Fe, we investigate the validity of the isothermal and multi-thermal assumptions on the high temperature components of the flaring plasma. We show that the soft X-ray spectra during the impulsive phase of the high intensity flares are inconsistent with isothermal models and are best fitted with double peaked differential emission measure distributions where the temperature of the hotter component rises faster than that of the cooler component. The two distinct temperature components observed in DEM models during the impulsive phase of the flares suggest the presence of the directly heated plasma in the corona and evaporated plasma from the chromospheric footpoints. We also find that the abundances of low FIP elements Mg, Si, and Fe reduces from near coronal to near photospheric values during the rising phase of the flare and recovers back to coronal values during decay phase, which is also consistent with the chromospheric evaporation scenario.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

Evolution of Elemental Abundances During B-Class Solar Flares: Soft X-ray Spectral Measurements with Chandrayaan-2 XSM

The Solar X-ray Spectrometer (XSM) payload onboard Chandrayaan-2 provides disk-integrated solar spectra in the 1-15 keV energy range with an energy resolution of 180 eV (at 5.9 keV) and a cadence of 1~second. During the period from September 2019 to May 2020, covering the minimum of Solar Cycle 24, it observed nine B-class flares ranging from B1.3 to B4.5. Using time-resolved spectroscopic analysis during these flares, we examined the evolution of temperature, emission measure, and absolute elemental abundances of four elements -- Mg, Al, Si, and S. These are the first measurements of absolute abundances during such small flares and this study offers a unique insight into the evolution of absolute abundances as the flares evolve. Our results demonstrate that the abundances of these four elements decrease towards their photospheric values during the peak phase of the flares. During the decay phase, the abundances are observed to quickly return to their pre-flare coronal values. The depletion of elemental abundances during the flares is consistent with the standard flare model, suggesting the injection of fresh material into coronal loops as a result of chromospheric evaporation. To explain the quick recovery of the so-called coronal "First Ionization Potential (FIP) bias" we propose two scenarios based on the Ponderomotive force model.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

Observations of the Quiet Sun During the Deepest Solar Minimum of the Past Century with Chandrayaan-2 XSM -- Sub-A Class Microflares Outside Active Regions

Solar flares, with energies ranging over several orders of magnitude, result from impulsive release of energy due to magnetic reconnection in the corona. Barring a handful, almost all microflares observed in X-rays are associated with the solar active regions. Here we present, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of a large sample of quiet Sun microflares observed in soft X-rays by the Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) on board the Chandrayaan-2 mission during the 2019-20 solar minimum. A total of 98 microflares having peak flux below GOES A-level were observed by the XSM during observations spanning 76 days. By using the derived plasma temperature and emission measure of these events obtained by fitting the XSM spectra along with volume estimates from concurrent imaging observations in EUV with the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA), we estimated their thermal energies to be ranging from 3e26 to 6e27 erg. We present the frequency distribution of the quiet Sun microflares with energy and discuss the implications of these observations of small-scale magnetic reconnection events outside active regions on coronal heating.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

Observations of the Quiet Sun During the Deepest Solar Minimum of the Past Century with Chandrayaan-2 XSM -- Elemental Abundances in the Quiescent Corona

Elements with low First Ionization Potential (FIP) are known to be three to four times more abundant in active region loops of the solar corona than in the photosphere. There have been observations suggesting that this observed "FIP bias" may be different in other parts of the solar corona and such observations are thus important in understanding the underlying mechanism. The Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) on board the Chandrayaan-2 mission carried out spectroscopic observations of the Sun in soft X-rays during the 2019-20 solar minimum, considered to be the quietest solar minimum of the past century. These observations provided a unique opportunity to study soft X-ray spectra of the quiescent solar corona in the absence of any active regions. By modelling high resolution broadband X-ray spectra from XSM, we estimate the temperature and emission measure during periods of possibly the lowest solar X-ray intensity. We find that the derived parameters remain nearly constant over time with a temperature around 2 MK, suggesting the emission is dominated by X-ray Bright Points (XBPs). We also obtain the abundances of Mg, Al, and Si relative to H, and find that the FIP bias is ~2, lower than the values observed in active regions.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

DarpanX: A Python Package for Modeling X-ray Reflectivity of Multilayer Mirrors

Multilayer X-ray mirrors consist of a coating of a large number of alternate layers of high Z and low Z materials with a typical thickness of 10-100 Angstrom, on a suitable substrate. Such coatings play an important role in enhancing the reflectivity of X-ray mirrors by allowing reflections at angles much larger than the critical angle of X-ray reflection for the given materials. Coating with an equal thickness of each bilayer enhances the reflectivity at discrete energies, satisfying Bragg condition. However, by systematically varying the bilayer thickness in the multilayer stack, it is possible to design X-ray mirrors having enhanced reflectivity over a broad energy range. One of the most important applications of such a depth graded multilayer mirror is to realize hard X-ray telescopes for astronomical purposes. Design of such multilayer X-ray mirrors and their characterization with X-ray reflectivity measurements require appropriate software tools. We have initiated the development of hard X-ray optics for future Indian X-ray astronomical missions, and in this context, we have developed a program, DarpanX, to calculate X-ray reflectivity for single and multilayer mirrors. It can be used as a stand-alone tool for designing multilayer mirrors with required characteristics. But more importantly, it has been implemented as a local model for the popular X-ray spectral fitting program, XSPEC, and thus can be used for accurate fitting of the experimentally measured X-ray reflectivity data. DarpanX is implemented as a Python 3 module, and an API is provided to access the underlying algorithms. Here we present details of DarpanX implementation and its validation for different type multilayer structures. We also demonstrate the model fitting capability of DarpanX for experimental X-ray reflectivity measurements of single and multilayer samples.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Solar X-ray Monitor On Board the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter: In-flight Performance and Science Prospects

The Solar X-ray Monitor (abbreviated as XSM) on board India's Chandrayaan-2 mission is designed to carry out broadband spectroscopy of the Sun from lunar orbit. It observes the Sun as a star and measures the spectrum every second in the soft X-ray band of 1 - 15 keV with an energy resolution better than 180 eV at 5.9 keV. The primary objective of the XSM is to provide the incident solar spectrum for the X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy experiment on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which aims to generate elemental abundance maps of the lunar surface. However, observations with the XSM can independently be used to study the Sun as well. The Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched on 22 July 2019, and the XSM began nominal operations, in lunar orbit, from September 2019. The in-flight observations, so far, have shown that its spectral performance has been identical to that on the ground. Measurements of the effective area from ground calibration were found to require some refinement, which has been carried out using solar observations at different incident angles. It also has been shown that the XSM is sensitive enough to detect solar activity well below A-class. This makes the investigations of microflares and the quiet solar corona feasible in addition to the study of the evolution of physical parameters during intense flares. This article presents the in-flight performance and calibration of the XSM instrument and discusses some specific science cases that can be addressed using observations with the XSM.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

Ground Calibration of Solar X-ray Monitor On-board Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter

Chandrayaan-2, the second Indian mission to the Moon, carries a spectrometer called the Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) to perform soft X-ray spectral measurements of the Sun while a companion payload measures the fluorescence emission from the Moon. Together these two payloads will provide quantitative estimates of elemental abundances on the lunar surface. XSM is also expected to provide significant contributions to the solar X-ray studies with its highest time cadence and energy resolution spectral measurements. For this purpose, the XSM employs a Silicon Drift Detector and carries out energy measurements of incident photons in the 1 -- 15 keV range with a resolution of less than 180 eV at 5.9 keV, over a wide range of solar X-ray intensities. Extensive ground calibration experiments have been carried out with the XSM using laboratory X-ray sources as well as X-ray beam-line facilities to determine the instrument response matrix parameters required for quantitative spectral analysis. This includes measurements of gain, spectral redistribution function, and effective area, under various observing conditions. The capability of the XSM to maintain its spectral performance at high incident flux as well as the dead-time and pile-up characteristics have also been investigated. The results of these ground calibration experiments of the XSM payload are presented in this article.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

An Acetate Bound Cobalt Oxide Catalyst for Water Oxidation: Role of Monovalent Anions and Cations In Lowering Overpotential

Co(II) dissolved in acetate buffer at pH 7 is found to be a good water oxidation catalyst (WOC) showing electrocatalytic water oxidation current significantly greater than Co(II) in phosphate buffer under the same conditions owing to the higher solubility of the former. When electrodeposited on ITO/FTO electrodes it forms acetate bound cobalt(II)oxide based material (Co-Ac-WOC) showing catalytic water oxidation current density of 0.1 mA/cm$^{2}$ at 830 mV and 1 mA/cm$^{2}$ at 1 V in a pH 7 buffer solution. The morphology of Co-Ac-OEC is investigated with AFM, HR-TEM and SEM (at different times and electrodeposition potentials). The chemical composition of Co-Ac-OEC is investigated using XPS, EDX, combustion analysis and ATR-FTIR which indicates that this material has a CoO core with chloride and acetate anions bound to the Co center. Sodium is found to be integrated in the Co-Ac-WOC. The presence of the sodium ions and the chloride ions lowers the onset potential for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by 240 mV relative to the classic Co-Pi at pH 7. The lower onset potential and higher OER current lowers the exchange current density to 10$^{-6.7}$ in Co-Ac-WOC relative to 10$^{-8}$-10$^{-10}$ in Co-Pi and its derivatives.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗