Monte Carlo simulations of soft proton flares: testing the physics with XMM-Newton

Low energy protons ( 2 s -1 keV -1 is obtained below 10 keV, about 5 times lower than the EPIC/MOS detection and 100 times lower than the EPIC/pn one. Given the high variability of the are intensity, we conclude that an average spectrum, based on the analysis of a full season of soft proton events is required to compare Monte Carlo simulations with real events.