Correlation Functions of Photospheric Magnetic Fields in Solar Active Regions

Abstract

We used magnetograms acquired with the {\it Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager} (HMI) on board the {\it Solar Dynamics Observatory} (SDO) to calculate and analyze spatial correlation functions and the multi-fractal spectra in solar active regions (ARs). The analysis was performed for two very different types of ARs: i) simple bipolar magnetic structures with regular orientation (the magneto-morphological class A1), and ii) very complex multi-polar ARs (the magneto-morphological class B3). All ARs were explored at the developed phase during flareless periods. For correlation functions, the power-law and exponential approximations were calculated and compared. It was found that the exponential law holds for the correlation functions of both types of ARs within spatial scales of 1-36~Mm, while the power law failed to approximate the observed correlation functions. The property of multi-fractality was found in all ARs, being better pronounced for the complex B3-class ARs. Our results might imply that photospheric magnetic fields of an AR is a self-organized system, which, however, does not exhibit properties of self-organized criticality (SOC), and its fractal properties are an attribute of more broad (than SOC only) class of non-linear systems.