Modelling drifts in solar modulation using simultaneous electron and positron measurements from PAMELA during the solar minimum of Cycle 23/24

Over the course of the recent solar minimum of cycle 23/24, the PAMELA mission measured simultaneous electron and positron intensities over the energy range of interest to heliospheric modulation. Drift theory predicts that for an A < 0 cycle, such as during the recent minimum of cycle 23/24, positively charged cosmic rays (CRs) will drift toward Earth mostly along the wavy heliospheric current sheet (HCS), while negatively charged CRs drift inwards mainly over the heliospheric polar regions. During such polarity cycles, electrons elude the full impact that the wavy HCS has on CR modulation. This results in electrons experiencing notably less modulation compared to protons (of the same rigidity) or positrons over the same time period; a phenomenon known as charge-sign dependent modulation. For this study, a 3D modulation model is applied to simultaneous electron, positron and proton measurements from PAMELA by reproducing the energy spectra of these CR particles at different times throughout the recent solar minimum. Since electrons and positrons undergo identical diffusion, simultaneous measurements of these CRs enable us to determine reasonably accurate diffusion coefficients as well as to study and reproduce the effects of drifts using a model that includes all the relevant modulation processes. With the availability of Voyager 1 measurements from beyond the heliopause, it has also become possible to determine the shape of the electron very local interstellar spectrum more accurately.