Critical fluctuations, intermittent dynamics and Tsallis statistics

Abstract

It is pointed out that the dynamics of the order parameter at a thermal critical point obeys the precepts of the nonextensive Tsallis statistics. We arrive at this conclusion by putting together two well-defined statistical–mechanical developments. The first is that critical fluctuations are correctly described by the dynamics of an intermittent nonlinear map. The second is that intermittency in the neighborhood of a tangent bifurcation in such map rigorously obeys nonextensive statistics. We comment on the implications of this result.