Do Cellular Automaton Avalanche Models Simulate the Quasi-Periodic Pulsations of Solar Flares?

TL;DR

This study uses a 2D cellular automaton avalanche model to simulate quasi-periodic pulsations in solar flares, demonstrating that magnetic reconnections can induce observable periodic patterns in flare emissions.

Contribution

The paper introduces a CA model that reproduces QPPs with diverse periods and multiple periodicities, linking these to magnetic reconnection processes in solar flares.

Findings

70% of long-lasting simulated flares exhibit QPPs

Nearly 50% of cases show multiple periods in QPPs

Lognormal distribution peaks at 29.29 seconds for QPP periods

Abstract

Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) with various periods that originate in the underlying magnetohydrodynamic processes of the flaring structures are detected repeatedly in the solar flare emissions. We apply a 2D cellular automaton (CA) avalanche model to simulate QPPs as a result of a repetitive load/unload mechanism. We show that the frequent occurrence of magnetic reconnections in a flaring loop could induce quasi-periodic patterns in the detected emissions. We obtain that among 21070 simulated flares, 813 events endure over 50 seconds, scaled with the temporal resolution of the Yohkoh Hard X-ray Telescope, and about 70 percent of these rather long-lasting events exhibit QPPs. We also illustrate that the applied CA model provides a wide range of periodicities for QPPs. Furthermore, we observe the presence of multiple periods in nearly 50 percent of the cases applying the Lomb-Scargle periodogram. A lognormal distribution is fitted to the unimodal distribution of the periods as a manifestation of an underlying multiplicative mechanism that typifies the effect of the system's independent varying parameters. The global maximum of the periods' lognormal distribution is located at 29.29 seconds. We compare statistics of the simulated QPPs with parameters of the host flares and discuss the impacts of flare properties on QPPs' periods. Considering the intrinsic characteristic of CA models, namely the repetitive load/unload mechanism, and the obtained pieces of evidence, we suggest that CA models may generate QPPs. We also examine the applicability of the autoregressive integrated moving average models to describe the simulated and observational QPPs.