Increases of ion fluxes in the keV–MeV range are sometimes observed near the heliospheric
current sheet (HCS) during periods when other sources are absent. These resemble solar
energetic particle events, but the events are weaker and apparently local. Conventional
explanations based on either shock acceleration of charged particles or particle acceleration
due to magnetic reconnection at interplanetary current sheets (CSs) are not persuasive. We
suggest instead that recurrent magnetic reconnection occurs at the HCS and smaller CSs in …

We explore the role of heliospheric magnetic field configurations and conditions that favor
the generation and confinement of small-scale magnetic islands associated with atypical
energetic particle events (AEPEs) in the solar wind. Some AEPEs do not align with standard
particle acceleration mechanisms, such as flare-related or simple diffusive shock
acceleration processes related to interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and
corotating interaction regions (CIRs). As we have shown recently, energetic particle flux …