Power law burst and inter-burst interval distributions in the solar   wind: turbulence or dissipative SOC ?
  We calculate for the first time the probability density functions (PDFs) P of burst energy e, duration T and inter-burst interval tau for a known turbulent system in nature. Bursts in the earth-sun component of the Poynting flux at 1 AU in the solar wind were measured using the MFI and SWE experiments on the NASA WIND spacecraft. We find P(e) and P(T) to be power laws, consistent with self-organised criticality (SOC). We find also a power law form for P(tau) that distinguishes this turbulent cascade from the exponential P(tau) of ideal SOC, but not from some other SOC-like sandpile models. We discuss the implications for the relation between SOC and turbulence. 
M. P. Freeman (1), N. W. Watkins (1), D. J. Riley (1 and 2) ((1)   British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK, (2) University o...