Coronal Heating as Determined by the Solar Flare Frequency Distribution Obtained by Aggregating Case Studies. (arXiv:2305.05687v1 [astro-ph.SR])

Coronal Heating as Determined by the Solar Flare Frequency Distribution Obtained by Aggregating Case Studies. (arXiv:2305.05687v1 [astro-ph.SR])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Mason_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">James Paul Mason</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Werth_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alexandra Werth</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+West_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Colin G. West</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Youngblood_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Allison A. Youngblood</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Woodraska_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Donald L. Woodraska</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Peck_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Courtney Peck</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lacjak_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kevin Lacjak</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Frick_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">Florian G. Frick</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gabir_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Moutamen Gabir</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Alsinan_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Reema A. Alsinan</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jacobsen_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Thomas Jacobsen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Alrubaie_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Mohammad Alrubaie</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Chizmar_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kayla M. Chizmar</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lau_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Benjamin P. Lau</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dominguez_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lizbeth Montoya Dominguez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Price_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David Price</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Butler_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Dylan R. Butler</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Biron_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Connor J. Biron</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Feoktistov_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nikita Feoktistov</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dewey_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kai Dewey</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Loomis_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">N. E. Loomis</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bodzianowski_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Michal Bodzianowski</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kuybus_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Connor Kuybus</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dietrick_H/0/1/0/all/0/1">Henry Dietrick</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wolfe_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Aubrey M. Wolfe</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Guerrero_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matt Guerrero</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Vinson_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jessica Vinson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Starbuck_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Peter Starbuck</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Litton_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Shelby D Litton</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Beck_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. G. Beck</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fisch_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jean-Paul Fisch</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+West_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ayana West</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Muniz_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alexis A. Muniz</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Chavez_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Luis Chavez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Upthegrove_Z/0/1/0/all/0/1">Zachary T. Upthegrove</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Runyon_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Brenton M. Runyon</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Salazar_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. Salazar</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kritzberg_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jake E. Kritzberg</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Murrel_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tyler Murrel</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ho_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ella Ho</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+LaFemina_Q/0/1/0/all/0/1">Quintin Y. LaFemina</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Elbashir_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sara I. Elbashir</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Chang_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ethan C. Chang</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hudson_Z/0/1/0/all/0/1">Zachary A. Hudson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Nussbaum_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Rosemary O. Nussbaum</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kennedy_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kellen Kennedy</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kim_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kevin Kim</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Arango_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Camila Villamil Arango</a>, et al. (954 additional authors not shown)

Flare frequency distributions represent a key approach to addressing one of
the largest problems in solar and stellar physics: determining the mechanism
that counter-intuitively heats coronae to temperatures that are orders of
magnitude hotter than the corresponding photospheres. It is widely accepted
that the magnetic field is responsible for the heating, but there are two
competing mechanisms that could explain it: nanoflares or Alfv’en waves. To
date, neither can be directly observed. Nanoflares are, by definition,
extremely small, but their aggregate energy release could represent a
substantial heating mechanism, presuming they are sufficiently abundant. One
way to test this presumption is via the flare frequency distribution, which
describes how often flares of various energies occur. If the slope of the power
law fitting the flare frequency distribution is above a critical threshold,
$alpha=2$ as established in prior literature, then there should be a
sufficient abundance of nanoflares to explain coronal heating. We performed
$>$600 case studies of solar flares, made possible by an unprecedented number
of data analysts via three semesters of an undergraduate physics laboratory
course. This allowed us to include two crucial, but nontrivial, analysis
methods: pre-flare baseline subtraction and computation of the flare energy,
which requires determining flare start and stop times. We aggregated the
results of these analyses into a statistical study to determine that $alpha =
1.63 pm 0.03$. This is below the critical threshold, suggesting that Alfv’en
waves are an important driver of coronal heating.

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