IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v5y2014i1d10.1038_ncomms6035.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modelling the influence of photospheric turbulence on solar flare statistics

Author

Listed:
  • M. Mendoza

    (ETH Zürich, Computational Physics for Engineering Materials, Institute for Building Materials)

  • A. Kaydul

    (ETH Zürich, Computational Physics for Engineering Materials, Institute for Building Materials)

  • L. de Arcangelis

    (Second University of Naples and CNISM)

  • J. S. Andrade Jr

    (Universidade Federal do Ceará)

  • H. J. Herrmann

    (ETH Zürich, Computational Physics for Engineering Materials, Institute for Building Materials
    Universidade Federal do Ceará)

Abstract

Solar flares stem from the reconnection of twisted magnetic field lines in the solar photosphere. The energy and waiting time distributions of these events follow complex patterns that have been carefully considered in the past and that bear some resemblance with earthquakes and stockmarkets. Here we explore in detail the tangling motion of interacting flux tubes anchored in the plasma and the energy ejections resulting when they recombine. The mechanism for energy accumulation and release in the flow is reminiscent of self-organized criticality. From this model, we suggest the origin for two important and widely studied properties of solar flare statistics, including the time–energy correlations. We first propose that the scale-free energy distribution of solar flares is largely due to the twist exerted by the vorticity of the turbulent photosphere. Second, the long-range temporal and time–energy correlations appear to arise from the tube–tube interactions. The agreement with satellite measurements is encouraging.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Mendoza & A. Kaydul & L. de Arcangelis & J. S. Andrade Jr & H. J. Herrmann, 2014. "Modelling the influence of photospheric turbulence on solar flare statistics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-8, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6035
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6035
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms6035?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6035. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.