Statistical properties of solar flares and comparison to other impulsive energy release events

Impulsive energy release events are observed in many natural systems. Solar flares are certainly among the most remarkable examples of such processes. In the last years the study of solar flare statistical properties has received considerable attention in the context of solar flare models based on different approaches, such as Self Organized Criticality (SOC) or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. In this talk the main statistical properties of solar flares will be presented and compared to those of other well known impulsive processes, such as earthquakes and soft γ-ray flashes occurring on neutron stars. It is shown that the these phenomena are characterized by different statistics that cannot be rescaled onto a single, universal curve and that this holds even for the same phenomenon, when observed in different periods or at different locations. Our results indicate apparent complexity of impulsive energy release processes, which neither follow a common behavior nor could be attributed to a universal physical mechanism.