Use of <i>q</i>-statistics for study of pulsating aurora

Abstract

The non-extensive statistical mechanics method of Tsallis (or q-statistics) is first applied to study pulsating auroras, which are regularly observed in the auroral ionosphere during geomagnetic disturbances. For systems with long-range interactions, such as ionized gas or plasma, whose dynamics are primarily determined by long-range electromagnetic forces, one can expect that non-additive and non-extensive thermostatistical principles may characterize their macroscopic behavior. This paper shows that pulsating polar auroras exhibit non-extensive properties and can be described, in part, by q-statistics. It is also demonstrated that the non-extensive parameter q correlates well with the flatness coefficient and scaling index, indicating the applicability of this approach to auroral emissions. Thus, q-statistics can be used to analyze phenomena in the high-latitude region of the Earth.