Solar Active Regions as a Percolation Phenomenon. II.
Abstract
The persistence of solar active regions was previously modeled in terms of percolation releasing magnetic flux from deep in the solar interior (Wentzel & Seiden 1992). Harvey's (1993) data on the size distribution of active regions at the end of emergence are reinterpreted in terms of a power law at small sizes and exponential at larger sizes. This combination is characteristic of percolation near the critical point. We have added a simple model for the magnetic polarity of the released loops and for their diffusion once they reach the surface. We present simulated active-region maps and size and age distributions.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- March 1996
- DOI:
- 10.1086/176989
- Bibcode:
- 1996ApJ...460..522S
- Keywords:
-
- MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS: MHD;
- SUN: ACTIVITY;
- SUN: MAGNETIC FIELDS