SIMULATIONS OF THE CA-XIX SPECTRAL EMISSION FROM A FLARING SOLAR CORONAL LOOP .2. IMPULSIVE HEATING BY ACCELERATED ELECTRONS

In this paper we analyze the response of the plasma inside a coronal loop to the passage of a beam of accelerated electrons and study it systematically as a function of the parameters and temporal profile of the beam, as well as of the initial conditions of the corona. Our approach consists in computing the spectral emission from an impulsively heated loop in the Ca xix line complex in the range 3.165-3.231 angstrom and in analyzing the simulated spectra with the same technique used for the observations. This allows a direct comparison of the simulations with the results of the spectral observations of the Bent Crystal Spectrometer on board the Solar Maximum Mission. While in some cases the values and evolution of average plasma properties, as derived from the analysis of spectra, are reproduced with good accuracy, the detailed shape of the Ca XIX lines cannot be accurately reproduced by this kind of model of flares heated by nonthermal electron beams.