von Kármán-Howarth equation for three-dimensional two-fluid plasmas.

We derive the von Kármán-Howarth equation for a full three-dimensional incompressible two-fluid plasma. In the long-time limit and for very large Reynolds numbers we obtain the equivalent of the hydrodynamic "four-fifths" law. This exact law predicts the scaling of the third-order two-point correlation functions, and puts a strong constraint on the plasma turbulent dynamics. Finally, we derive a simple expression for the 4/5 law in terms of third-order structure functions, which is appropriate for comparison with in situ measurements in the solar wind at different spatial ranges.

Biorthogonal decomposition techniques unveil the nature of the irregularities observed in the solar cycle.

We present a biorthogonal decomposition of the temporal and latitudinal distribution of sunspots recorded since 1874. We show that the butterfly diagrams can be interpreted as the result of approximately constant amplitudes and phases of two oscillations with periods close to 22 years. Our analysis reveals clear evidence of the absence of low-dimensional chaos, at least for the time scales that can be analyzed with this database. This result suggests that the spatiotemporal irregularities observed in the solar cycle are due to the superposition of regular structures with a stochastic background.

Stochastic relaxation oscillator model for the solar cycle.

We perform a detailed analysis of the sunspot number time series to reconstruct the phase space of the underlying dynamical system. The features of this phase space allow us to describe the behavior of the solar cycle in terms of a simple relaxation oscillator in two dimensions. The absence of systematic self-crossings suggests that the complexity of the sunspot time series does not arise as a consequence of chaos. Instead, we show that it can be adequately modeled through the introduction of a stochastic fluctuation in one of the parameters of the dynamic equations.