Information-theoretic analysis of longitude distribution of photospheric magnetic fields from MDI/HMI synoptic maps: Evidence for Rossby waves

However, the longitudinal complexity plays a fundamental role in the solar magnetic activity. Rossby waves have recently been proposed as a fundamental mechanism regarding the nonaxisymmetric nature of the solar magnetic fields.

Here, we use HMI and MDI magnetic field synoptic maps to evaluate the magnetic field structures' (mainly active regions) organization and propagation as a function of time and latitude. We demonstrate, using information theory, that the organization of longitudinal structures observed on synoptic maps is proportional to the level of activity at a given latitude. We further show that this organization on the longitudinal structures is persistent and due to long-lived features.