Small-scale stochastic structure of the solar magnetic field

The small-scale (∼10″) stochastic properties of the solar magnetic field B are analyzed in terms of the two-dimensional model of a fractal Brownian process (the mean square of the difference between the field strengths at two points separated by a distance D is proportional to D 2H ). Digitized solar magnetograms with a 2″ resolution are used to determine the standard deviation s of the magnetic field and the exponents H at various levels of |B|. It has been established that the transition from the background magnetic field to the fields of an active region occurs near 25–50 G. A dependence of the exponent H on the magnetic field amplitude has been derived. The exponent H for the background magnetic field has been found to be much smaller than that for the fields of an active region. The relationship of the results obtained to certain fundamental properties of plasma in a magnetic field is discussed.