Bibcode
Grabowski, U.; Westendorp Plaza, C.; Staiger, J.; Hanslmeier, A.; Hammer, R.; Nesis, A.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.296, p.210
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4
1995
Journal
Citations
3
Refereed citations
2
Description
In most papers dealing with random motions and diffusion of small
magnetic elements in the photosphere, the convective flows and in
particular the granulation are considered as drivers of these motions.
The results of these works have been discussed in terms of the fractal
dimension of the granulation as seen in intensity pictures. So far
neither a fractal dimension associated with the granular velocity field
nor the nature of the random walks in the granular intergranular space
have been determined. Using spectrograms of high spatial resolution
taken with the VTT at Izana (Tenerife, Spain) we investigated the
granular velocity field in terms of its fractal nature and its diffusion
properties. We applied the rescaled range analysis to both the velocity
and intensity fields, thus enabling us to calculate a fractal dimension
as well as a "diffusion" exponent which together characterize the
diffusion properties of the granulation layers. We found a fractal
dimension of the granular velocity of the same order as the fractal
dimensions of the distribution of the magnetic elements in the
photosphere, and the fractal dimension corresponding to the diffusion of
the magnetic elements in a fractal geometry. The diffusion processes in
the granulation layers show a subdiffusive nature characteristic of
anomalous diffusion rather than the classical Fickian diffusion.
Anomalous diffusion is often found in stochastic transport in spatially
heterogeneous media. The velocity field of the granulation can be
thought of as a heterogeneous turbulent medium: the granules show less
turbulence than the intergranular space.