Optimizing at the Ergodic Edge

Using a simple, annealed model, some of the key features of the recently introduced extremal optimization heuristic are demonstrated. In particular, it is shown that the dynamics of local search possesses a generic critical point under the variation of its sole parameter, separating phases of too greedy (non-ergodic, jammed) and too random (ergodic) exploration. Comparison of various local search methods within this model suggests that the existence of the critical point is essential for the optimal performance of the heuristic.Comment: RevTex4, 17 pages, 3 ps-figures incl., for related information, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/publications.htm

Extremal Optimization for Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Spin Glasses

Extremal Optimization (EO), a new local search heuristic, is used to approximate ground states of the mean-field spin glass model introduced by Sherrington and Kirkpatrick. The implementation extends the applicability of EO to systems with highly connected variables. Approximate ground states of sufficient accuracy and with statistical significance are obtained for systems with more than N=1000 variables using $\pm J$ bonds. The data reproduces the well-known Parisi solution for the average ground state energy of the model to about 0.01%, providing a high degree of confidence in the heuristic. The results support to less than 1% accuracy rational values of $\omega=2/3$ for the finite-size correction exponent, and of $\rho=3/4$ for the fluctuation exponent of the ground state energies, neither one of which has been obtained analytically yet. The probability density function for ground state energies is highly skewed and identical within numerical error to the one found for Gaussian bonds. But comparison with infinite-range models of finite connectivity shows that the skewness is connectivity-dependent.Comment: Substantially revised, several new results, 5 pages, 6 eps figures included, (see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/ for related information

Numerical Results for Ground States of Spin Glasses on Bethe Lattices

The average ground state energy and entropy for +/- J spin glasses on Bethe lattices of connectivities k+1=3...,26 at T=0 are approximated numerically. To obtain sufficient accuracy for large system sizes (up to n=2048), the Extremal Optimization heuristic is employed which provides high-quality results not only for the ground state energies per spin e_{k+1} but also for their entropies s_{k+1}. The results show considerable quantitative differences between lattices of even and odd connectivities. The results for the ground state energies compare very well with recent one-step replica symmetry breaking calculations. These energies can be scaled for all even connectivities k+1 to within a fraction of a percent onto a simple functional form, e_{k+1} = E_{SK} sqrt(k+1) - {2E_{SK}+sqrt(2)} / sqrt(k+1), where E_{SK} = -0.7633 is the ground state energy for the broken replica symmetry in the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model. But this form is in conflict with perturbative calculations at large k+1, which do not distinguish between even and odd connectivities. We find non-zero entropies s_{k+1} at small connectivities. While s_{k+1} seems to vanish asymptotically with 1/(k+1) for even connectivities, it is indistinguishable from zero already for odd k+1 >= 9.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex4, 28 ps-figures included, related papers available at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher

Aging Exponents in Self-Organized Criticality

In a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 889 (1997) and cond-mat/9702054] we have demonstrated that the avalanches in the Bak-Sneppen model display aging behavior similar to glassy systems. Numerical results for temporal correlations show a broad distribution with two distinct regimes separated by a time scale which is related to the age of the avalanche. This dynamical breaking of time-translational invariance results in a new critical exponent, $r$. Here we present results for $r$ from extensive numerical simulations of self-organized critical models in $d=1$ and 2. We find $r_{d=1}=0.45\pm 0.05$ and $r_{d=2}=0.23\pm 0.05$ for the Bak-Sneppen model, and our results suggest $r=1/4$ for the analytically tractable multi-trade model in both dimensions.Comment: 8 pages RevTex, 8 ps-figures included. Improved presentation, as to appear in PR