Power-law Distribution of Solar Cycle–modulated Coronal Jets

Abstract

Power-law distributions have been studied as a significant characteristic of nonlinear dissipative systems. Since discovering the power-law distribution of solar flares that was later extended to nanoflares and stellar flares, it has been widely accepted that different scales of flares share the same physical process. Here we present the newly developed semiautomated jet identification algorithm and its application for detecting more than 1200 off-limb solar jets during Solar Cycle 24. Power-law distributions have been revealed between the intensity/energy and frequency of these events, with indices found to be analogous to those for flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These jets are also found to be spatially and temporally modulated by the solar cycle, forming a butterfly diagram in their latitudinal-temporal evolution, experiencing quasi-annual oscillations in their analyzed properties, and very likely gathering in certain active longitudinal belts. Our results show that coronal jets display the same nonlinear behavior as that observed in flares and CMEs, in solar and stellar atmospheres, strongly suggesting that they result from the same nonlinear statistics of scale-free processes as their counterparts in different scales of eruptive events. Although these jets, like flares and other large-scale dynamic phenomena, are found to be significantly modulated by the solar cycle, their corresponding power-law indices still remain similar.

Evolution of Coronal Jets during Solar Cycle 24

“…To confirm and refine what Liu et al (2023) found, this work now extends their approach by applying a more extensive set of diagnostics to a larger number of jets. Therefore, our aims are to (i) map the fine structure of the jet distribution, (ii) search for solar cycle variation in the characteristic parameters of the jets, and (iii) further support (or refute) the existence of the conjecture of active longitude with analyzing jets.…”

“…For our analysis, the data provided by the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA, Lemen et al 2012) instrument at the 304 Å were applied. The semiautomated identification algorithm of off-limb coronal jets (SAJIA) to automatically detect jets was used, as presented by Liu et al (2023).…”

“…Coronal jets, as shown by Liu et al (2023), also exhibit a power-law distribution of their frequency just as solar and stellar flares (Crosby et al 1993;Benz & Krucker 1999;Parnell & Jupp 2000;Shibayama et al 2013;Cliver et al 2022). The physical mechanism responsible for the eruption of solar coronal jets is believed to be magnetic interchange reconnection between closed and open magnetic field lines (Shibata et al 1992;Canfield et al 1996;Shibata et al 2007;Moore et al 2010;Pariat et al 2015).…”

“…The physical mechanism responsible for the eruption of solar coronal jets is believed to be magnetic interchange reconnection between closed and open magnetic field lines (Shibata et al 1992;Canfield et al 1996;Shibata et al 2007;Moore et al 2010;Pariat et al 2015). Though the physics behind this power-law distribution needs to be explored, it was suggested by Liu et al (2023) that they are essential evidence that coronal jets, different classes of flares (Lu & Hamilton 1991), and coronal mass ejections (CMEs, Lamy et al 2019) are likely triggered by the same underlying physical process.…”

“…Manually searching for coronal jets is a time-consuming and laborious task. However, recently Liu et al (2023) developed a novel semiautomated identification algorithm of off-limb coronal jets (SAJIA) and applied it to the observations of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). They found that the coronal jets (i) are spatially located mostly along the equatorial and polar regions; (ii) in Solar Cycle 24, more coronal jets were found in the southern polar region; (iii) migrate from higher latitudes toward the equator; (iv) exhibit changes in properties with a period around 11 months; and (v) present a power-law index of thermal energy almost identical to solar and stellar flares and CMEs.…”