Power Laws in Astrophysics
Self-Organized Criticality Systems

An advanced course of self-organized criticality systems in astrophysics that builds on and complements the author's previous work.

Markus Aschwanden (Author)

9781009562935, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 December 2024

288 pages
25.1 x 17.6 x 2 cm, 0.666 kg

'… a valuable survey of SOC astrophysics and will be a valuable addition to libraries serving a university astrophysics department. Recommended.' A. Spero, CHOICE

Research applications of complex systems and nonlinear physics are rapidly expanding across various scientific disciplines. A common theme among them is the concept of “self-organized criticality systems”, which this volume presents in detail for observed astrophysical phenomena, such as solar flares, coronal mass ejections, solar energetic particles, solar wind, stellar flares, magnetospheric events, planetary systems, galactic and black-hole systems. The author explores fundamental questions: Why do power laws, the hallmarks of self-organized criticality, exist? What power law index is predicted for each astrophysical phenomenon? Which size distributions have universality? What can waiting time distributions tell us about random processes? This is the first monograph that tests comprehensively astrophysical observations of self-organized criticality systems for students, post-docs, and researchers. A highlight is a paradigm shift from microscopic concepts, such as the traditional cellular automaton algorithms, to macroscopic concepts formulated in terms of physical scaling laws.

Foreword Paul Charbonneau
Preface
List of abbreviations
1. Fundamentals
2. Power-law size distributions
3. Waiting-time distributions
4. Solar flare hard X-rays
5. Solar flare soft X-rays
6. Solar EUV nanoflares
7. Solar photospheric events
8. Coronal mass ejection
9. Solar energetic particle events (SEP)
10. Solar wind
11. Magnetospheric phenomena
12. Planetary systems
13. Stellar systems
14. Galactic and black-hole systems
15. Conclusions
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Solar system: the Sun & planets [PGS]