Numerical Study of a Propagating Non-Thermal Microwave Feature in a Solar Flare Loop

We analytically and numerically study the motion of electrons along a magnetic loop, to compare with the observation of the propagating feature of the non-thermal microwave source in the 1999 August 28 solar flare reported by Yokoyama et al. (2002). We model the electron motion with the Fokker-Planck equation and calculate the spatial distribution of the gyrosynchrotron radiation. We find that the microwave propagating feature does not correspond to the motion of electrons with a specific initial pitch angle. This apparent propagating feature is a consequence of the motion of an ensemble of electrons with different initial pitch angles, which have different time and position to produce strong radiation in the loop. We conclude that the non-thermal electrons in the 1999 August 28 flare were isotropically accelerated and then are injected into the loop. Subject headings: acceleration of particles — Sun: flares — Sun: radio radiation