Copulas and time series with long-ranged dependences

We review ideas on temporal dependences and recurrences in discrete time series from several areas of natural and social sciences. We revisit existing studies and redefine the relevant observables in the language of copulas (joint laws of the ranks). We propose that copulas provide an appropriate mathematical framework to study non-linear time dependences and related concepts - like aftershocks, Omori law, recurrences, waiting times. We also critically argue using this global approach that previous phenomenological attempts involving only a long-ranged autocorrelation function lacked complexity in that they were essentially mono-scale.