Rank-ordered Multifractal Spectrum for Intermittent Fluctuations

We describe a new method that is both physically explicable and quantitatively accurate in describing the multifractal characteristics of intermittent events based on groupings of rank-ordered fluctuations. The generic nature of such rank-ordered spectrum leads it to a natural connection with the concept of one-parameter scaling for monofractals. We demonstrate this technique using results obtained from a 2D MHD simulation. The calculated spectrum suggests a crossover from the near Gaussian characteristics of small amplitude fluctuations to the extreme intermittent state of large rare events.