Hard X-Ray Constraints on Small-Scale Coronal Heating Events

Much evidence suggests that the solar corona is heated impulsively, meaning that nanoflares may be ubiquitous in quiet and active regions (ARs). Hard X-ray (HXR) observations with unprecedented sensitivity $>$3~keV are now enabled by focusing instruments. We analyzed data from the textit{Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI)} rocket and the textit{Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR)} spacecraft to constrain properties of AR nanoflares simulated by the EBTEL field-line-averaged hydrodynamics code. We generated model X-ray spectra by computing differential emission measures for homogeneous nanoflare sequences with heating amplitudes $H_0$, durations $tau$, delay times between events $t_N$, and filling factors $f$. The single quiescent AR observed by textit{FOXSI-2} on 2014 December 11 is well fit by nanoflare sequences with heating amplitudes 0.02 erg cm$^{-3}$ s$^{-1}$ $<$ $H_0$ $<$ 13 erg cm$^{-3}$ s$^{-1}$ and a wide range of delay times and durations. We exclude delays between events shorter than $sim$900 s at the 90% confidence level for this region. Three of five regions observed by { ustar} on 2014 November 1 are well fit by homogeneous nanoflare models, while two regions with higher fluxes are not. Generally, the { ustar} count spectra are well fit by nanoflare sequences with smaller heating amplitudes, shorter delays, and shorter durations than the allowed textit{FOXSI-2} models. These apparent discrepancies are likely due to differences in spectral coverage between the two instruments and intrinsic differences among the regions. Steady heating ($t_N$ = $tau$) was ruled out with $>$99% confidence for all regions observed by either instrument.