Physical processes in the solar atmosphere associated with flares

Flares on the sun release an enormous amount of energy in the form of accelerated particles, heat fluxes, matter fluxes, and radiation. The relative importance of each of these energy channels is reviewed and the reaction of the solar atmosphere to the corresponding energy fluxes is considered. The possibility of determining the characteristics of the primary process of the flare from its secondary manifestations in the atmosphere of the sun is discussed.