Solar surprise

Sabine Hossenfelder gave a link to a popular article about totally shocking new findings about Sun. There are 5 times more gamma rays than expected and the spectrum has a deep and narrow dip around 40 GeV. Spectrum continues to much higher energies than expected, at least up to 100 GeV. One proposal is that there could be dark matter in the interior of Sun yielding the gamma rays but is unclear how they could get to the surface without experiencing the same fate as ordinary gammas from nuclear reactions.

There is also a correlation with sunspot cycle. Basic data and observations related to correlations with the solar cycle are discussed in two articles (see this and this).

1. Power law spectrum is harder than for cosmic rays: spectral indices are n=-2.2 and n=-2.7 respectively (one has power law behavior Eⁿ for the flux). The spectral intensity at 100 GeV is very nearly the maximum flux predicted by the model assuming that reflection of cosmic gamma rays gives to the gammas.
   
   
2. The spectrum has two components: poloidal component farther from equator and equatorial component largest during sunspot minimum. The equatorial contribution is maximal at solar minimum. The spectral index of the equatorial contribution is harder and higher energies are present. The energy range is maximal during spot minima. Gamma flux is reduced during sun spot maxima.
   
   

How the observed gamma rays could be produced in TGD Universe?

1. Gamma rays cannot cannot be gammas produced by nuclear reactions as ordinary gammas since nuclear energy scale is much below the scale of gamma rays extending to 100 GeV at least. Even the hadronic energy scale is too low. The gamma rays could be cosmic rays having already high energies: the spectral indices are however different. This leaves acceleration of charged particles producing gamma rays as the most plausible mechanism irrespective of whether the particle come from solar core or are cosmic rays.
   
   
2. Dark magnetic flux tubes are basic notion of TGD and could serve as the channels along which charged particles could propagate to the surface without losing their energies in collisions. An interesting hypothesis considered already earlier is that solar magnetic field has flux tubes carrying monopole flux. This would predict that the flow is not evenly distributed but reflects the structure of the flux tube distribution.
   

   Charged particles could accelerate in the electric field of flux tube as they travel along flux tubes and generate gamma rays by some mechanism. The energy would be the increment of Coulomb energy if dissipation is neglected. A simple modification of flux tube type extremals allows the presence of helical magnetic and electric fields along flux tube orthogonal to each other. I have proposed the same mechanism to explain the gamma rays and high energy electrons at MeV energies associated with lightnings: in standard physics framework dissipative losses do not allow them.
   
   

3. What could be the production mechanism of gamma rays? If flux tubes have sharp kinks, charged particles should experience large deceleration in the kinks and could emit high energy gamma ray in the process. The highly relativistic charge particle itself could leak out (one cannot exclude nuclei from solar core). Large deflection angles however requires transfer of momentum also to flux tube degrees of freedom.
   
   
4. What could be the origin of the gap around 30-50 GeV? If the acceleration takes place in the electric fields assignable to the closed flux tubes assignable to solar dipolar magnetic field, the charged particle could travel several times around the loop giving rise to several energy bands explaining the gap and suggesting several of them. The flux loop would act as a particle accelerator.
   

   A possible mechanism producing cosmic rays could be pair-annihilation of pairs of M₈₉ pions with mass about 70 GeV to gamma ray pairs or charged particles with energies 35 MeV. Could the dip observed in the energy range around 30-50 GeV somehow relate to the charged decay products of M₈₉ pions accelerating in the electric fields of flux tubes? Could the dip be gap without the decays of M₈₉ pions?
   
   

5. The charged particles could be provided by the solar core or they could be cosmic rays. The order of magnitude for gamma ray intensity is 5 times larger than in cosmic ray model, which encourages the identification as cosmic rays (see this). The origin of cosmic rays is however also a mystery and neutron stars, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, quasars, and gamma-ray bursts have been proposed as sources of cosmic rays.
   

   In TGD the model for the formation of galaxies, quasars, and active galactic nuclei, and even stars, and planets relies on the formation of loopy tangles along long thickening cosmic strings analogous to magnetic dipole field. Galactic matter would be produced by the decay of the flux tube energy to particles as analog of the decay of inflaton field. This could generate both charged particles and gamma radiation in the solar core and in neutron stars. The acceleration could be much more effective due to the strong magnetic and electric fields involved. Also charged particles can leak out from the flux tubes and cosmic rays could be produced by this mechanism. Cosmic rays could move along the highways defined by the long magnetic flux tubes connecting galaxies.
   
   

The understanding of the correlations with the solar cycle requires a model for the polarization flip. One can consider several options but the model based on reconnection splitting dipole loops from the flux tube tangle representing the analog dipole field is the simplest one. The simplest variant of the model requires zero energy ontology (ZEO) and quantum coherence at dark flux tubes in solar length scales and that long galactic string defines wormhole magnetic field with two sheets (type I and II) connected by wormhole contacts separated from each other in the sense that M⁴ projections are disjoint.

1. Let us denote the numbers of dipole loops of type i=I,II by n_i. Assume that in the initial situation one has (n_I=n_max,n_II=0). B as maximum value B_max. The arrows of time at the two sheets are assumed to be opposite during cycles.
   
   
2. The transition leading B=B_max to B=0 would be "big" state function reduction (BSR) changing the arrow of time at sheets of both type I and II. BSR would generate maximum number of new dipole flux loops of type II: n_II→ n_max so that one has n_I= n_II= n_max and B=0.
   
   
3. After that dipole loops of type I begin to split away by reconnections in "small" state function reductions (SSRs) so that n_I decreases. They split further in pieces and leak out from Sun whereas n_II remains unchanged since it corresponds to the passive boundary of CD - this is essential. Net B increases until one has B=-B_max.
   
   
4. Next occurs BSR generating maximum number of new flux loop portions of type I leading n_I= n_II= n_max and B=0 and same is repeated except that now n_II decreases.
   
   
5. One can understand the sunspot cycle in terms of split dipole loops leaving the Sun: their intersection with the solar surface would define sunspot pair and the distance of members of the pair would decrease to zero during the cycle.
   
   

The model leads to rather dramatic predictions.

1. Various magnetic structures are predicted to appear in pairs with members related by an approximate Z₂ symmetry. For the magnetic field of the Sun this symmetry would be naturally inversion symmetry with respect to the surface of Sun (or of dipole core). Also reflection symmetry can correspond to Z₂. This symmetry should be universal and the predictions are in sharp contrast with the locality principle of classical physics. One could even understand the mysterious "Axis of Evil" associated as anomaly of CMB and apparently giving special role for solar system (see this).
   
   
2. Also unexpected connections with TGD inspired views about biology and consciousness emerge. Magnetic body (MB) is the intentional agent in living system Z₂ realized as inversion could related the parts of MB in the interior and exterior of Earth: could the idea about intra-terrestrial life introduced originally half-jokingly make sense - at the level of MBs at least? ZEO based theory of consciousness predicts that conscious entities can have both arrows of time and death means reincarnation with opposite arrow of time. But where do these ghostly selves with opposite arrow of time reside? Could Z₂ - possibly realized as inversion - relate relates these selves to each other.
   
   

See the article Solar surprise, the chapter with the same title or the chapter TGD and Astrophysics "Physics in Many-Sheeted Space-Time: part II".

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.

Articles and other material related to TGD.