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Hemispheric Asymmetry in the Sunspot Cycle as a Nonextensive Phenomenon

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Abstract

The appearance of dark sunspots over the solar photosphere is not considered to be symmetric between the northern and southern hemispheres. Among the different conclusions obtained by several authors, we can point out that the north–south asymmetry is a real and systematic phenomenon and is not due to random variability. In the present work, we select the sunspot area data of a sample of 13 solar cycles divided by hemisphere extracted from the Royal Greenwich Observatory and USAF/NOAA Sunspot databases to investigate the behavior of probability distributions using an out-of-equilibrium statistical model, also known as nonextensive statistical mechanics. Based on this statistical framework, we obtain that the nonextensive entropic parameter \(q\) has a semisinusoidal variation with a period of ≈ 22 years (Hale cycle). Among the most significant results, we can highlight that the asymmetry index \(q(A)\) supports the dominance of the northern hemisphere over the southern one, a result already confirmed by other authors who used the same data but with different statistical methods. Thus, we conclude that the parameter \(q(A)\) can be considered an effective measure for diagnosing daily variations of the solar dynamo. Finally, our study opens a new approach to investigating solar variability from the nonextensive perspective.

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Notes

  1. The catalog can be downloaded from the website: https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/.

  2. https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/97323/.

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Acknowledgments

DBdeF acknowledges financial support from the Brazilian agency CNPq-PQ2 (Grant No. 305566/2021-0). Research activities of STELLAR TEAM of the Federal University of Ceará are supported by continuous grants from the Brazilian agency CNPq. This paper includes data collected by the NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Support for this database is provided by the NASA Science Mission directorate. Funding for this database terminated in FY2005 (last update 2017/03/23). All data presented in this paper are obtained from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich - USAF/NOAA Sunspot Data. Data of our analyses presented in this paper will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Aeronautical Technology – ITA, 12228-900, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil

    Leonardo F. G. Batista

  2. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Caixa Postal 6030, Campus do Pici, 60455-900, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Thiago M. Santiago, Paulo C. F. da Silva Filho, Cleo V. Silva & Daniel B. de Freitas

  3. Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Cariri, Av. Tenente Raimundo Rocha, Nº 1639, 63048-080, Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, Brazil

    Thiago M. Santiago

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L. F. G. Batista and D. B. de Freitas wrote the main manuscript text, and T. M. Santiago, P. C. F. da Silva Filho, and C. V. Silva prepared figures, tables, and statistical procedures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Leonardo F. G. Batista.

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Batista, L.F.G., Santiago, T.M., da Silva Filho, P.C.F. et al. Hemispheric Asymmetry in the Sunspot Cycle as a Nonextensive Phenomenon. Sol Phys 298, 84 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-023-02179-6

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