New and precise construction of the local interstellar electron spectrum from the radio background and an application to the solar modulation of cosmic rays showing an incompatability of the electron and nuclei modulation using the spherically symmetric Fokker-Planck equation

Cosmic-ray electrons generate the observed radio-frequency background. Previous attempts in the literature to reconcile quantitatively the measured radio-frequency intensity with the intensity deduced from the electron spectrum measured at earth have culminated in the problem that to get the respective emissivities to agree, an unacceptably high interstellar B field must be chosen. In the light of new experimental data on the emissivity as deduced from H II region studies and on the functional dependence of the diffusion coefficient with solar radius and particle rigidity, the assumptions under which the electron emissivity comparison has been made have been reexamined closely. The paradox between predicted and measured emissivity was resolved by ascribing to the magnetic fields of the galaxy a distribution of magnetic field strengths. From modified synchrotron formulas, the interstellar electron spectrum has been constructed from the radio frequency emission data with greatly improved precision. The interstellar electron spectrum has been determined independently of the solar modulation and provides, therefore, an estimate of the absolute depth of the electron modulation. Then the measured electron, proton, and helium-nuclei fluxes were systematically compared to the predictions of the spherically symmetric Fokker-Planck equation using the electron modulation as a base. A previously unnoticed non-tracking of the modulation parameters was observed during the recent recovery that did not occur during the 1965 to 1969 period. Although the argument could be presented just as well by attributing the anomaly to the nuclei, the discussion here arbitrarily tailored it to the electrons, and this new phenomenon was named, the modulation reluctance of the cosmic-ray electrons