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A physicist's sandbox

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Abstract

We discuss some recent results suggesting that certain spatially extended dynamical systems naturally evolve toward a state characterized by domains of all length scales. The analogy with second-order phase transitions has prompted the name “self-organized criticality” specific results are available for cellular automaton models, which can be thought of as caricatures of a sandpile undergoing avalances. The potential generality of the results stems from the very simple (nonlinear) diffusion dynamics governing the system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, Georgia Institute of Technology, 30332, Atlanta, Georgia

    Kurt Wiesenfeld

  2. Physics Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973, Upton, New York

    Chao Tang & Per Bak

Authors
  1. Kurt Wiesenfeld
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  2. Chao Tang
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  3. Per Bak
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Additional information

In addition to the papers in the present volume, see ref. 1.

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Wiesenfeld, K., Tang, C. & Bak, P. A physicist's sandbox. J Stat Phys 54, 1441–1458 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01044728

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01044728

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