On the role of self-organised criticality in accretion systems

Self-organised criticality (SOC) has been suggested as a potentially powerful unifying paradigm for interpreting the structure of, and signals from, accretion systems. After reviewing the most promising sites where SOC might be observable, we consider the theoretical arguments for supposing that SOC can occur in accretion discs. Perhaps the most rigorous evidence is provided by numerical modelling of energy dissipation due to magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in accretion discs by G Geertsema & A Achterberg (A&A 255, 427 (1992)); we investigate how “sandpile”-type dynamics arise in this model. It is concluded that the potential sites for SOC in accretion systems are numerous and observationally accessible, and that theoretical support for the possible occurrence of SOC can be derived from first principles.