In one-component abelian sandpile models, the toppling probabilities are independent quantities. This is not the case in multi-component models. The condition of associativity of the underlying abelian algebras impose nonlinear relations among the toppling probabilities. These relations are derived for the case of two-component quadratic abelian algebras. We show that abelian sandpile models with two conservation laws have only trivial avalanches.
We present a sandpile model, in which the instability of a site is determined also by the variables in a neighbourhood. This is a modification of the Abelian Sandpile Model, in which abelianity is preserved: it shares several mathematical properties of the original abelian model, while producing a more realistic dynamics. We show how our model presents interesting hydrodynamic features.
We study critical properties of the continuous Abelian sandpile model with anisotropies in toppling rules that produce ordered patterns on it. Also we consider the continuous directed sandpile model perturbed by a weak quenched randomness and study critical behavior of the model using perturbative conformal field theory and show the model has a new random fixed point.
In this paper we derive the scaling fields in $c=-2$ conformal field theory associated with weakly allowed clusters in abelian sandpile model and show a direct relation between the two models.
We have performed extensive simulations on the Abelian Sandpile Model (ASM) on square lattice. We have estimated the probability of observation of many clusters. Some are in good agreement with previous analytical results, while some show discrepancies between simulation and analytical results.
We insert some asymmetries in the continuous Abelian sandpile models, such as directedness and ellipticity. We analyze probability distribution of different heights and also find the field theory corresponding to the models. Also we find the fields associated with some height variables.
A non conservative Abelian sandpile model with BTW toppling rule introduced in [Tsuchiya and Katori, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 61}, 1183 (2000)] is studied. Using a scaling analysis of the different energy scales involved in the model and numerical simulations it is shown that this model belong to a universality class different from that of previous models considered in the literature.
We define a new version of sandpile model which is very similar to Abelian Sandpile Model (ASM), but the height variables are continuous ones. With the toppling rule we define in our model, we show that the model can be mapped to ASM, so the general properties of the two models are identical. Yet the new model allows us to investigate some problems such as effect of very small mass on the height probabilities, different boundary conditions, etc.
Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology（广东以色列理工学院）；Technion-Israel Institute of Technology（以色列理工学院）；Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Berhampur（印度科学教育研究所伯拉姆普尔分校）
The Abelian Sandpile Model (ASM) is a paradigm of self-organized criticality (SOC) which is related to $c=-2$ conformal field theory. The conformal fields corresponding to some height clusters have been suggested before. Here we derive the first corrections to such fields, in a field theoretical approach, when the lattice parameter is non-vanishing and consider them in the presence of a boundary.
Due to intermittency and conservation, the Abelian sandpile in 2D obeys multifractal, rather than finite size scaling. In the thermodynamic limit, a vanishingly small fraction of large avalanches dominates the statistics and a constant gap scaling is recovered in higher moments of the toppling distribution. Thus, rare events shape most of the scaling pattern and preserve a meaning for effective exponents, which can be determined on the basis of numerical and exact results.
Universality in isotropic, abelian and non-abelian, sandpile models is examined using extensive numerical simulations. To characterize the critical behavior we employ an extended set of critical exponents, geometric features of the avalanches, as well as scaling functions describing the time evolution of average quantities such as the area and size during the avalanche. Comparing between the abelian Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld model [P. Bak, C. Tang and K. Wiensenfeld, Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 381 (1987)], and the non-abelian models introduced by Manna [S. S. Manna, J. Phys. A. 24, L363 (1991)] and Zhang …
We provide a comprehensive view on the role of Abelian symmetry and stochasticity in the universality class of directed sandpile models, in context of the underlying spatial correlations of metastable patterns and scars. It is argued that the relevance of Abelian symmetry may depend on whether the dynamic rule is stochastic or deterministic, by means of the interaction of metastable patterns and avalanche flow. Based on the new scaling relations, we conjecture critical exponents for avalanche, which is confirmed reasonably well in large-scale numerical simulations.
We present a detailed analysis of large scale simulations of avalanches in the 2D Abelian sandpile model. We compare statistical properties of two different decompositions of avalanches into clusters of topplings and waves of topplings. Auxiliary critical exponents are introduced and the existence of the exponent governing the contraction of avalanches claimed in our previous work [Priezzhev et al, PRL 76,2093 (1996)] is confirmed. We also give more elaborated argumentation for the exact values of the exponents characterizing the statistics of waves.
We show that the dissipative Abelian sandpile on a graph L can be related to a random walk on a graph which consists of L extended with a trapping site. From this relation it can be shown, using exact results and a scaling assumption, that the dissipative sandpiles' correlation length exponent νalways equals 1/d_w, where d_w is the fractal dimension of the random walker. This leads to a new understanding of the known results that ν=1/2 on any Euclidean lattice. Our result is however more general and as an example we also present exact data for finite Sierpinski gaskets which fully confirm our …
The Abelian sandpile model is the simplest analytically tractable model of self-organized criticality. This paper presents a brief review of known results about the model. The abelian group structure allows an exact calculation of many of its properties. In particular, one can calculate all the critical exponents for the directed model in all dimensions. For the undirected case, the model is related to q= 0 Potts model. This enables exact calculation of some exponents in two dimensions, and there are some conjectures about others. We also discuss a generalization of the model to a network of c…
We consider the non Abelian sandpile model introduced by Y.-C. Zhang on a two-dimensional square lattice. The static and dynamical properties of the model are investigated and compared to the Abelian sandpile model of Bak, Tang and Wiesenfeld. A detailed analysis which takes the finite size effects into account yields that the exponents of the avalanche probability distribution are the same as in the Abelian model.
The existing estimation of the upper critical dimension of the Abelian Sandpile Model is based on a qualitative consideration of avalanches as self-avoiding branching processes. We find an exact representation of an avalanche as a sequence of spanning sub-trees of two-component spanning trees. Using equivalence between chemical paths on the spanning tree and loop-erased random walks, we reduce the problem to determination of the fractal dimension of spanning sub-trees. Then, the upper critical dimension $d_u=4$ follows from Lawler's theorems for intersection probabilities of random walks and l…
We study the probability distribution of residence time, $T$, of the sand grains in the one dimensional abelian sandpile model on a lattice of $L$ sites, for $T<<L^2$ and $T>>L^2$. The distribution function decays as $\exp(-\frac{K_LT}{L^2})$. We numerically calculate the coefficient $K_L$ for the value of $L$ upto 150 . Interestingly the distribution function has a scaling form $\frac{1}{L^a}f(\frac{T}{L^b})$ with $a \neq b$ for large $L$.
We study the directed Abelian sandpile model on a square lattice, with $K$ downward neighbors per site, $K > 2$. The $K=3$ case is solved exactly, which extends the earlier known solution for the $K=2$ case. For $K>2$, the avalanche clusters can have holes and side-branches and are thus qualitatively different from the $K=2$ case where avalance clusters are compact. However, we find that the critical exponents for $K>2$ are identical with those for the $K=2$ case, and the large scale structure of the avalanches for $K>2$ tends to the $K=2$ case.
The time and size distribution of the waves of topplings in the Abelian sandpile model are expressed as the first arrival at the origin distribution for a scale invariant, time inhomogeneous Fokker-Planck equation. Assuming a linear conjecture for the the time inhomogeneity exponent as function of loop erased random walk (LERW) critical exponent, suggested by numerical results, this approach allows to estimate the lower critical dimension of the model and the exact value of the critical exponent for LERW in three dimension. The avalanche size distribution in two dimensions is found to be the d…
A popular theory of self-organized criticality relates driven dissipative systems to systems with conservation. This theory predicts that the stationary density of the abelian sandpile model equals the threshold density of the fixed-energy sandpile. We refute this prediction for a wide variety of underlying graphs, including the square grid. Driven dissipative sandpiles continue to evolve even after reaching criticality. This result casts doubt on the validity of using fixed-energy sandpiles to explore the critical behavior of the abelian sandpile model at stationarity.
We introduce a natural stochastic extension, called SSP, of the abelian sandpile model(ASM), which shares many mathematical properties with ASM, yet radically differs in its physical behavior, for example in terms of the shape of the steady state and of the avalanche size distribution. We establish a basic theory of SSP analogous to that of ASM, and present a brief numerical study of its behavior. Our original motivation for studying SSP stems from its connection to the LLL algorithm established in another work by the authors [5]. The importance of understanding how LLL works cannot be stresse…
We perform large scale numerical simulations of a directed version of the two-state stochastic sandpile model. Numerical results show that this stochastic model defines a new universality class with respect to the Abelian directed sandpile. The physical origin of the different critical behavior has to be ascribed to the presence of multiple topplings in the stochastic model. These results provide new insights onto the long debated question of universality in abelian and stochastic sandpiles.
We study the steady state of the abelian sandpile models with stochastic toppling rules. The particle addition operators commute with each other, but in general these operators need not be diagonalizable. We use their abelian algebra to determine their eigenvalues, and the Jordan block structure. These are then used to determine the probability of different configurations in the steady state. We illustrate this procedure by explicitly determining the numerically exact steady state for a one dimensional example, for systems of size $\le12$, and also study the density profile in the steady state…
One important step in the renormalization group (RG) approach to a lattice sandpile model is the exact enumeration of all possible toppling processes of sandpile dynamics inside a cell for RG transformations. Here we propose a computer algorithm to carry out such exact enumeration for cells of planar lattices in RG approach to Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld sandpile model [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 59}, 381 (1987)] and consider both the reduced-high RG equations proposed by Pietronero, Vespignani, and Zapperi (PVZ) [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 72}, 1690 (1994)] and the real-height RG equations proposed by Ivashkev…
The Abelian sandpile process evolves configurations of chips on the integer lattice by toppling any vertex with at least 4 chips, distributing one of its chips to each of its 4 neighbors. When begun from a large stack of chips, the terminal state of the sandpile has a curious fractal structure which has remained unexplained. Using a characterization of the quadratic growths attainable by integer-superharmonic functions, we prove that the sandpile PDE recently shown to characterize the scaling limit of the sandpile admits certain fractal solutions, giving a precise mathematical perspective on t…
We consider the isotropic two-dimensional abelian sandpile model from a perspective based on two-dimensional (conformal) field theory. We compute lattice correlation functions for various cluster variables (at and off criticality), from which we infer the field-theoretic description in the scaling limit. We find a perfect agreement with the predictions of a c=-2 conformal field theory and its massive perturbation, thereby providing direct evidence for conformal invariance and more generally for a description in terms of a local field theory. The question of the height 2 variable is also addres…
Avalanche frontiers in Abelian Sandpile Model (ASM) are random simple curves whose continuum limit is known to be a Schramm-Loewner Evolution (SLE) with diffusivity parameter $κ= 2$. In this paper we consider the dissipative ASM and study the statistics of the avalanche and wave frontiers for various rates of dissipation. We examine the scaling behavior of a number of functions such as the correlation length, the exponent of distribution function of loop lengths and gyration radius defined for waves and avalanches. We find that they do scale with the rate of dissipation. Two significant length…
We study the abelian sandpile model on the upper half plane, and reconsider the correlations of the four height variables lying on the boundary. For more convenience, we carry out the analysis in the dissipative (massive) extension of the model and identify the boundary scaling fields corresponding to the four heights. We find that they all can be accounted for by the massive pertubation of a c=-2 logarithmic conformal field theory.
We study universality classes and crossover behaviors in non-Abelian directed sandpile models, in terms of the metastable pattern analysis. The non-Abelian property induces spatially correlated metastable patterns, characterized by the algebraic decay of the grain density along the propagation direction of an avalanche. Crossover scaling behaviors are observed in the grain density due to the interplay between the toppling randomness and the parity of the threshold value. In the presence of such crossovers, we show that the broadness of the grain distribution plays a crucial role in resolving t…
We show that a fixed set of woven defect lines in a nematic liquid crystal supports a set of non-singular topological states which can be mapped on to recurrent stable configurations in the Abelian sandpile model or chip-firing game. The physical correspondence between local Skyrmion flux and sandpile height is made between the two models. Using a toy model of the elastic energy, we examine the structure of energy minima as a function of topological class and show that the system admits domain wall Skyrmion solitons.
The abelian sandpile model defines a Markov chain whose states are integer-valued functions on the vertices of a simple connected graph $G$. By viewing this chain as a (nonreversible) random walk on an abelian group, we give a formula for its eigenvalues and eigenvectors in terms of `multiplicative harmonic functions' on the vertices of $G$. We show that the spectral gap of the sandpile chain is within a constant factor of the length of the shortest non-integer vector in the dual Laplacian lattice, while the mixing time is at most a constant times the smoothing parameter of the Laplacian latti…
We check the universality properties of the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model by computing some of its properties on the honeycomb lattice. Exact expressions for unit height correlation functions in presence of boundaries and for different boundary conditions are derived. Also, we study the statistics of the boundaries of avalanche waves by using the theory of SLE and suggest that these curves are conformally invariant and described by SLE2.
The height probabilities for the recurrent configurations in the Abelian Sandpile Model on the square lattice have analytic expressions, in terms of multidimensional quadratures. At first, these quantities have been evaluated numerically with high accuracy, and conjectured to be certain cubic rational-coefficient polynomials in 1/pi. Later their values have been determined by different methods. We revert to the direct derivation of these probabilities, by computing analytically the corresponding integrals. Yet another time, we confirm the predictions on the probabilities, and thus, as a coroll…
We study the two-dimensional Abelian Sandpile Model on a square lattice of linear size L. We introduce the notion of avalanche's fine structure and compare the behavior of avalanches and waves of toppling. We show that according to the degree of complexity in the fine structure of avalanches, which is a direct consequence of the intricate superposition of the boundaries of successive waves, avalanches fall into two different categories. We propose scaling ansätz for these avalanche types and verify them numerically. We find that while the first type of avalanches has a simple scaling behavior,…
The abelian sandpile model in two dimensions does not show the type of critical behavior familar from equilibrium systems. Rather, the properties of the stationary state follow from the condition that an avalanche started at a distance r from the system boundary has a probability proportional to 1/sqrt(r) to reach the boundary. As a consequence, the scaling behavior of the model can be obtained from evaluating dissipative avalanches alone, allowing not only to determine the values of all exponents, but showing also the breakdown of finite-size scaling.
The Abelian Sandpile Model is a cellular automaton whose discrete dynamics reaches an out-of-equilibrium steady state resembling avalanches in piles of sand. The fundamental moves defining the dynamics are encoded by the toppling rules. The transition monoid corresponding to this dynamics in the set of stable configurations is abelian, a property which seems at the basis of our understanding of the model. By including also antitoppling rules, we introduce and investigate a larger monoid, which is not abelian anymore. We prove a number of algebraic properties of this monoid, and describe their …
We report on the exact computation of the scaling form of the 1-point function, on the upper-half plane, of the height 2 variable in the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model. By comparing the open versus the closed boundary condition, we find that the scaling field associated to the height 2 is a logarithmic scalar field of scaling dimension 2, belonging to a c=-2 logarithmic conformal field theory. This identification is confirmed by numerical simulations and extended to the height 3 and 4 variables, which exhibit the same scaling form. Using the conformal setting, we make precise proposals…
Since the work of Creutz, identifying the group identities for the Abelian Sandpile Model (ASM) on a given lattice is a puzzling issue: on rectangular portions of Z^2 complex quasi-self-similar structures arise. We study the ASM on the square lattice, in different geometries, and a variant with directed edges. Cylinders, through their extra symmetry, allow an easy determination of the identity, which is a homogeneous function. The directed variant on square geometry shows a remarkable exact structure, asymptotically self-similar.
We review the status of the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model as a strong candidate to provide a lattice realization of logarithmic conformal invariance with central charge c=-2. Evidence supporting this view is collected from various aspects of the model. These include the study of some conformally invariant boundary conditions, and the corresponding boundary condition changing fields, the calculation of correlations of certain bulk and boundary observables (the height variables) as well as a proper account of the necessary dissipation, which allows for a physical understanding of some o…
The Abelian Sandpile generates complex and beautiful patterns and seems to display allometry. On the plane, beyond patches, patterns periodic in both dimensions, we remark the presence of structures periodic in one dimension, that we call strings. We classify completely their constituents in terms of their principal periodic vector k, that we call momentum. We derive a simple relation between the momentum of a string and its density of particles, E, which is reminiscent of a dispersion relation, E=k^2. Strings interact: they can merge and split and within these processes momentum is conserved.…
We consider the directed Abelian sandpile model in the presence of sink sites whose density f_t at depth t below the top surface varies as c~1/t^chi. For chi>1 the disorder is irrelevant. For chi<1, it is relevant and the model is no longer critical for any nonzero c. For chi=1 the exponents of the avalanche distributions depend continuously on the amplitude c of the disorder. We calculate this dependence exactly, and verify the results with simulations.
We continue our investigation of the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model in terms of a logarithmic conformal field theory with central charge c=-2, by introducing two new boundary conditions. These have two unusual features: they carry an intrinsic orientation, and, more strangely, they cannot be imposed uniformly on a whole boundary (like the edge of a cylinder). They lead to seven new boundary condition changing fields, some of them being in highest weight representations (weights -1/8, 0 and 3/8), some others belonging to indecomposable representations with rank 2 Jordan cells (lowest we…
We numerically study avalanches in the two dimensional Abelian sandpile model in terms of a sequence of waves of toppling events. Priezzhev et al [PRL 76, 2093 (1996)] have recently proposed exact results for the critical exponents in this model based on the existence of a proposed scaling relation for the difference in sizes of subsequent waves, $Δs =s_{k}- s_{k+1}$, where the size of the previous wave $s_{k}$ was considered to be almost always an upper bound for the size of the next wave $s_{k+1}$. Here we show that the significant contribution to $Δs$ comes from waves that violate the bound…
A popular theory of self-organized criticality relates the critical behavior of driven dissipative systems to that of systems with conservation. In particular, this theory predicts that the stationary density of the abelian sandpile model should be equal to the threshold density of the corresponding fixed-energy sandpile. This "density conjecture" has been proved for the underlying graph Z. We show (by simulation or by proof) that the density conjecture is false when the underlying graph is any of Z^2, the complete graph K_n, the Cayley tree, the ladder graph, the bracelet graph, or the flower…
Adding grains at a single site on a flat substrate in the Abelian sandpile models produce beautiful complex patterns. We study in detail the pattern produced by adding grains on a two-dimensional square lattice with directed edges (each site has two arrows directed inward and two outward), starting with a periodic background with half the sites occupied. The size of the pattern formed scales with the number of grains added $N$ as $\sqrt{N}$. We give exact characterization of the asymptotic pattern, in terms of the position and shape of different features of the pattern.
The Abelian Sandpile Model, seen as a deterministic lattice automaton, on two-dimensional periodic graphs generates complex regular patterns displaying (fractal) self-similarity. In particular, on a variety of lattices and initial conditions, at all sizes, there appears what we call an exact Sierpinski structure: the volume is filled with periodic patterns, glued together along straight lines, with the topology of a triangular Sierpinski gasket. Various lattices (square, hexagonal, kagome,...), initial conditions, and toppling rules show Sierpinski structures which are apparently unrelated and…
A new sandpile model is studied in which bonds of the system are inhibited for activity after a certain number of transmission of grains. This condition impels an unstable sand column to distribute grains only to those neighbours which have toppled less than m times. In this non-Abelian model grains effectively move faster than the ordinary diffusion (super-diffusion). A novel system size dependent cross-over from Abelian sandpile behaviour to a new critical behaviour is observed for all values of the parameter m.
We present the detailed calculations of the asymptotics of two-site correlation functions for height variables in the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model. By using combinatorial methods for the enumeration of spanning trees, we extend the well-known result for the correlation $σ_{1,1} \simeq 1/r^4$ of minimal heights $h_1=h_2=1$ to $σ_{1,h} = P_{1,h}-P_1P_h$ for height values $h=2,3,4$. These results confirm the dominant logarithmic behaviour $σ_{1,h} \simeq (c_h\log r + d_h)/r^4 + {\cal O}(r^{-5})$ for large $r$, predicted by logarithmic conformal field theory based on field identification…
We consider patterns generated by adding large number of sand grains at a single site in an abelian sandpile model with a periodic initial configuration, and relaxing. The patterns show proportionate growth. We study the robustness of these patterns against different types of noise, \textit{viz.}, randomness in the point of addition, disorder in the initial periodic configuration, and disorder in the connectivity of the underlying lattice. We find that the patterns show a varying degree of robustness to addition of a small amount of noise in each case. However, introducing stochasticity in the…
The abelian sandpile serves as a model to study self-organized criticality, a phenomenon occurring in biological, physical and social processes. The identity of the abelian group is a fractal composed of self-similar patches, and its limit is subject of extensive collaborative research. Here, we analyze the evolution of the sandpile identity under harmonic fields of different orders. We show that this evolution corresponds to periodic cycles through the abelian group characterized by the smooth transformation and apparent conservation of the patches constituting the identity. The dynamics indu…
The leaky abelian sandpile model (Leaky-ASM) is a growth model in which $n$ grains of sand start at the origin in $\mathbb{Z}^2$ and diffuse along the vertices according to a toppling rule. A site can topple if its amount of sand is above a threshold. In each topple a site sends some sand to each neighbor and leaks a portion $1-1/d$ of its sand. We compute the limit shape as a function of $d$ in the symmetric case where each topple sends an equal amount of sand to each neighbor. The limit shape converges to a circle as $d\to 1$ and a diamond as $d\to\infty$. We compute the limit shape by compa…
We consider the Abelian sandpile model on triangular and hexagonal lattices. We compute several height probabilities on the full plane and on half-planes, and discuss some properties of the universality of the model.
We introduce a family of abelian sandpile models with two parameters $n, m \in {\bf N}$ defined on finite lattices on $d$-dimensional torus. Sites with $2dn+m$ or more grains of sand are unstable and topple, and in each toppling $m$ grains dissipate from the system. Because of dissipation in bulk, the models are well-defined on the shift-invariant lattices and the infinite-volume limit of systems can be taken. From the determinantal expressions, we obtain the asymptotic forms of the avalanche propagators and the height-$(0,0)$ correlations of sandpiles for large distances in the infinite-volum…
We compute the lattice 1-site probabilities, on the upper half-plane, of the four height variables in the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model. We find their exact scaling form when the insertion point is far from the boundary, and when the boundary is either open or closed. Comparing with the predictions of a logarithmic conformal theory with central charge c=-2, we find a full compatibility with the following field assignments: the heights 2, 3 and 4 behave like (an unusual realization of) the logarithmic partner of a primary field with scaling dimension 2, the primary field itself being a…
