paper

Absorbing-state phase transitions in fixed-energy sandpiles

arXiv:cond-mat/0003285 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.62.4564

Abstract

We study sandpile models as closed systems, with conserved energy density playing the role of an external parameter. The critical energy density, , marks a nonequilibrium phase transition between active and absorbing states. Several fixed-energy sandpiles are studied in extensive simulations of stationary and transient properties, as well as the dynamics of roughening in an interface-height representation. Our primary goal is to identify the universality classes of such models, in hopes of assessing the validity of two recently proposed approaches to sandpiles: a phenomenological continuum Langevin description with absorbing states, and a mapping to driven interface dynamics in random media. Our results strongly suggest that there are at least three distinct universality classes for sandpiles.

41 pages, 23 figures

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