Scientists from Perm Polytechnic University, the Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation (IZMIRAN) have for the first time discovered that the magnetic field at the Sun's poles obeys a fundamental law of turbulence formulated by Soviet mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov back in 1941.

How the discovery was made

Direct study of the Sun's interior is impossible, so researchers analyzed nearly 50 years of continuous magnetic field observations obtained from the Wilcox Solar Observatory in the United States. Using wavelet analysis — a method that allows the isolation of oscillations of different durations — they studied the behavior of the magnetic field at the star's poles.

The result was unexpected: magnetic field oscillations are distributed not chaotically, but strictly according to Kolmogorov's law. This law describes how, in turbulent flows (in the atmosphere, oceans, smoke), energy is transferred from large eddies to smaller ones. Scientists have now shown that magnetic oscillation energy inside the Sun is distributed according to the same principles.

Why this matters

The Sun is a giant boiling ball of plasma. In its convective zone, hot flows are constantly mixing, generating a magnetic field. It is this field that is responsible for the appearance of sunspots, powerful flares, and coronal plasma ejections that can cause magnetic storms on Earth.

Understanding exactly how the magnetic field is generated and evolves is critically important for accurate space weather forecasting. Modern models of solar activity must account not only for the 11-year cycle but also for the newly discovered law of magnetic oscillation distribution.

In brief

Scientists from Perm Polytechnic University, ICM UB RAS, and IZMIRAN have discovered that the magnetic field at the Sun's poles obeys Kolmogorov's turbulence law, discovered in 1941. This is the first direct confirmation that processes inside the star follow universal physical laws. The discovery will help improve forecasting of solar flares and magnetic storms on Earth. The work has been published in a specialized scientific journal.