Impulsive phase flare energy transport by large-scale alfven waves and the electron acceleration problem

The impulsive phase of a solar flare marks the epoch of rapid conversion of energy stored in the preflare coronal magnetic field. Hard X-ray observations imply that a substantial fraction of flare energy released during the impulsive phase is converted to the kinetic energy of mildly relativistic electrons (10-100 keV). The liberation of the magnetic free energy can occur as the coronal magnetic field reconfigures and relaxes following reconnection. We investigate a scenario in which products of the reconfiguration-large-scale Alfven wave pulses-transport the energy and the magnetic field changes rapidly through the corona to the lower atmosphere. This offers two possibilities for electron acceleration. First, in a coronal plasma with beta