  The sun provides an explosive, heavenly example of self-organized
criticality. Sudden bursts of intense radiation emanate from rapid
rearrangements of the magnetic field network in the corona. Avalanches are
triggered by loops of flux that reconnect or snap into lower energy
configurations when they are overly stressed. Our recent analysis of
observational data reveals that the loops (links) and footpoints (nodes), where
they attach on the photosphere, embody a scale free network. The statistics of
the avalanches and of the network structure are unified through a simple
dynamical model where the avalanches and network co-generate each other into a
complex, critical state. This particular example points toward a general
dynamical mechanism for self-generation of complex networks.

Statistical Mechanics;Astrophysics