On the storage of high-energy protons in the solar corona: The cyclotron instability

We consider the problem of long-time storage of high-energy protons, accelerated in the process of a flare, in coronal magnetic traps. From the viewpoint of the storage, one of the most important plasma instabilities is the kinetic cyclotron instability of the Alfvén waves. We carry out a detailed theoretical analysis of the instability for typical conditions of the solar corona. It is the refraction of the Alfvén waves in combination with a drastic decrease of the instability growth rate with an increase of the angle between the directions of the wave vector and the stationary magnetic field that leads to the possibility of the long-term storage of the flare protons. Sufficient conditions of the storage are determined.