HIGHLY IONIZED POTASSIUM LINES IN SOLAR X-RAY SPECTRA AND THE ABUNDANCE OF POTASSIUM

The abundance of potassium is derived from X-ray lines observed during flares by the RESIK instrument on the solar mission CORONAS-F between 3.53 angstrom and 3.57 angstrom. The lines include those emitted by He-like K and Li-like K dielectronic satellites, which have been synthesized using the chianti atomic code and newly calculated atomic data. There is good agreement between observed and synthesized spectra, and the theoretical behavior of the spectra with varying temperature estimated from the ratio of the two GOES channels is correctly predicted. The observed fluxes of the He-like K resonance line per unit emission measure give log A(K) = 5.86 (on a scale log A(H) = 12), with a total range of a factor 2.9. This is higher than photospheric abundance estimates by a factor 5.5, a slightly greater enhancement than for other elements with first ionization potential (FIP) less than similar to 10 eV. There is, then, the possibility that enrichment of low-FIP elements in coronal plasmas depends weakly on the value of the FIP which for K is extremely low (4.34 eV). Our work also suggests that fractionation of elements to form the FIP effect occurs in the low chromosphere rather than higher up, as in some models.