Figure 3: Duration of flares and total energy distributions.

The distributions of duration of flares and total flare energies are evaluated with our numerical model for λ_R>1, using a system size of L=512 and N=400, and compared with observational data from the GOES catalogue³⁷. (a) Total energy distribution. The distribution exhibits a scale-free behaviour with an exponent of −1.95±0.04 (solid line). Energies are expressed in units of a lower energy cutoff, which is E₀=6 × 10⁻⁷ J m⁻² and E₀=11.4 for the observational and numerical data, respectively. (b) Distribution of flare durations. Here τ₀=10³ s for GOES catalogue and τ₀=1 for the numerical data, corresponding to the shortest time at which the power-law regime is observed. The solid line corresponds to an exponent of −3.0±0.1.