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Universality in solar flare and earthquake occurrence
L de Arcangelis1, C Godano, E Lippiello
1Department of Information Engineering and CNISM, Second University of Naples, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy.
Physical Review Letters
|February 21, 2006
Summary
Earthquakes and solar flares, despite their differences, share universal stochastic properties. Analysis reveals similar energy release patterns, temporal clustering, and power-law correlations, suggesting a common underlying physical mechanism for both phenomena.
Area of Science:
- Complex systems science
- Astrophysics
- Geophysics
Background:
- Earthquakes and solar flares are energetic natural phenomena with complex temporal dynamics.
- Previous research has studied these events independently, focusing on their unique characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate potential universal properties in the stochastic processes governing earthquakes and solar flares.
- To explore commonalities in their temporal occurrence, size distributions, and clustering behavior.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of experimental catalogs for both seismic and solar flare event data.
- Statistical comparison of size distributions and interoccurrence times.
- Examination of temporal clustering and correlation functions, including power-law analysis.
Main Results:
- Identified universal properties in the stochastic processes of earthquakes and solar flares.
- Demonstrated similar distributions for event sizes and interoccurrence times.
- Observed comparable temporal clustering, with power-law correlations akin to the Omori law in seismic sequences.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest a shared underlying physical mechanism driving both earthquakes and solar flares.
- Universality in these phenomena supports a unified approach to their interpretation and modeling.
- Further research can explore this common mechanism across different energetic systems.
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