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Effects of Temperature Bias on Nanoflare Statistics

Authors: Markus J. Aschwanden; Paul Charbonneau;

Effects of Temperature Bias on Nanoflare Statistics

Abstract

Statistics of solar flares, microflares, and nanoflares have been gathered over an energy range of some 8 orders of magnitude, over E ≈ 1024-1032 ergs. Frequency distributions of flare energies are always determined in a limited temperature range, e.g., at T ≈ 1-2 MK if the 171 and 195 A filters are used from an extreme ultraviolet telescope (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/EUV Imaging Telescope or the Transitional Region and Coronal Explorer). Because the electron temperature Te and the thermal energy E = 3nekBTeV are statistically correlated in flare processes, statistics in a limited temperature range introduce a bias in the frequency distribution of flare energies, N(E) ∝ E. We demonstrate in this Letter that the power-law slope of nanoflare energies, e.g., aE ≈ 1.9, as determined in a temperature range of T ≈ 1.1-1.6 MK (195 A), corresponds to a corrected value of a ≈ 1.4 in an unbiased, complete sample. This corrected value is in much better agreement with predictions from avalanche models of solar flares. However, it also implies that all previously published power-law slopes of EUV nanoflares, covering a range of aE ≈ 1.8-2.3, correspond to unbiased values of aE < 2, which then poses a serious challenge to Parker's hypothesis of coronal heating by nanoflares.

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
25
Average
Top 10%
Top 10%
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