Testing the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole Systems

In this study, we test whether the power law slopes ( α _F ) for fluxes ( F ), and ( α _E ) for energies ( E ) are universal in their size distributions, $N(F)\propto {F}^{-{\alpha }_{F}}$ and $N(E)\propto {E}^{-{\alpha }_{E}}$ , in astrophysical observations of galactic, extragalactic, and black ho...

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Main Authors: Markus J. Aschwanden, Ersin Göǧüş
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8dca
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author Markus J. Aschwanden
Ersin Göǧüş
author_facet Markus J. Aschwanden
Ersin Göǧüş
author_sort Markus J. Aschwanden
collection DOAJ
description In this study, we test whether the power law slopes ( α _F ) for fluxes ( F ), and ( α _E ) for energies ( E ) are universal in their size distributions, $N(F)\propto {F}^{-{\alpha }_{F}}$ and $N(E)\propto {E}^{-{\alpha }_{E}}$ , in astrophysical observations of galactic, extragalactic, and black hole systems. This is a test of fundamental importance for self-organized criticality (SOC) systems. The test decides whether (i) power laws are a natural consequence of the scale-freeness and inherent universality of SOC systems, or (ii) if they depend on more complex physical scaling laws. The former criterion allows quantitative predictions of the power-law-like size distributions, while the latter criterion requires individual physical modeling for each SOC variable and data set. Our statistical test, carried out with 61 published data sets, is consistent with the former option, which implies that observed power laws can simply be derived from the scale-freeness and do not require specific physical models to understand their statistical distributions. The observations show a mean and standard deviation of α _F = 1.78 ± 0.29 for SOC fluxes and α _E = 1.66 ± 0.22 for SOC fluences, and thus are consistent with the prediction of the fractal-diffusive SOC model, with α _F = 1.80 and α _E = 1.67.
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spelling doaj-art-e4f0573643084a16b54d2c050c8d4d5f2025-01-02T12:11:46ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-0197811910.3847/1538-4357/ad8dcaTesting the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole SystemsMarkus J. Aschwanden0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0260-2673Ersin Göǧüş1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5274-6790Lockheed Martin, Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL) , Advanced Technology Center (ATC), A021S, Bldg. 252, 3251 Hanover St., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ; markus.josef.aschwanden@gmail.comFaculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancí University , Tuzla, İstanbul 34956, Türkiye ; ersing@sabanciuniv.eduIn this study, we test whether the power law slopes ( α _F ) for fluxes ( F ), and ( α _E ) for energies ( E ) are universal in their size distributions, $N(F)\propto {F}^{-{\alpha }_{F}}$ and $N(E)\propto {E}^{-{\alpha }_{E}}$ , in astrophysical observations of galactic, extragalactic, and black hole systems. This is a test of fundamental importance for self-organized criticality (SOC) systems. The test decides whether (i) power laws are a natural consequence of the scale-freeness and inherent universality of SOC systems, or (ii) if they depend on more complex physical scaling laws. The former criterion allows quantitative predictions of the power-law-like size distributions, while the latter criterion requires individual physical modeling for each SOC variable and data set. Our statistical test, carried out with 61 published data sets, is consistent with the former option, which implies that observed power laws can simply be derived from the scale-freeness and do not require specific physical models to understand their statistical distributions. The observations show a mean and standard deviation of α _F = 1.78 ± 0.29 for SOC fluxes and α _E = 1.66 ± 0.22 for SOC fluences, and thus are consistent with the prediction of the fractal-diffusive SOC model, with α _F = 1.80 and α _E = 1.67.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8dcaA starsAGN host galaxiesblazarsblack holescosmic raysexoplanet astronomy
spellingShingle Markus J. Aschwanden
Ersin Göǧüş
Testing the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole Systems
The Astrophysical Journal
A stars
AGN host galaxies
blazars
black holes
cosmic rays
exoplanet astronomy
title Testing the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole Systems
title_full Testing the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole Systems
title_fullStr Testing the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole Systems
title_full_unstemmed Testing the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole Systems
title_short Testing the Universality of Self-organized Criticality in Galactic, Extragalactic, and Black Hole Systems
title_sort testing the universality of self organized criticality in galactic extragalactic and black hole systems
topic A stars
AGN host galaxies
blazars
black holes
cosmic rays
exoplanet astronomy
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8dca
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