Effect of Noise on Patterns Formed by Growing Sandpiles

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 toppling rules seems to destroy the asymptotic patterns completely, even for a weak noise. We also discuss a variational formulation of the pattern selection problem in growing abelian sandpiles.Comment: 15 pages,16 figure

Bosonization of non-relativistic fermions on a circle: Tomonaga's problem revisited

We use the recently developed tools for an exact bosonization of a finite number $N$ of non-relativistic fermions to discuss the classic Tomonaga problem. In the case of noninteracting fermions, the bosonized hamiltonian naturally splits into an O$(N)$ piece and an O$(1)$ piece. We show that in the large-N and low-energy limit, the O$(N)$ piece in the hamiltonian describes a massless relativistic boson, while the O$(1)$ piece gives rise to cubic self-interactions of the boson. At finite $N$ and high energies, the low-energy effective description breaks down and the exact bosonized hamiltonian must be used. We also comment on the connection between the Tomonaga problem and pure Yang-Mills theory on a cylinder. In the dual context of baby universes and multiple black holes in string theory, we point out that the O$(N)$ piece in our bosonized hamiltonian provides a simple understanding of the origin of two different kinds of nonperturbative O$(e^{-N})$ corrections to the black hole partition function.Comment: latex, 28 pages, 5 epsf figure

Numerical Diagonalisation Study of the Trimer Deposition-Evaporation Model in One Dimension

We study the model of deposition-evaporation of trimers on a line recently introduced by Barma, Grynberg and Stinchcombe. The stochastic matrix of the model can be written in the form of the Hamiltonian of a quantum spin-1/2 chain with three-spin couplings given by H= \sum\displaylimits_i [(1 - \sigma_i^-\sigma_{i+1}^-\sigma_{i+2}^-) \sigma_i^+\sigma_{i+1}^+\sigma_{i+2}^+ + h.c]. We study by exact numerical diagonalization of $H$ the variation of the gap in the eigenvalue spectrum with the system size for rings of size up to 30. For the sector corresponding to the initial condition in which all sites are empty, we find that the gap vanishes as $L^{-z}$ where the gap exponent $z$ is approximately $2.55\pm 0.15$. This model is equivalent to an interfacial roughening model where the dynamical variables at each site are matrices. From our estimate for the gap exponent we conclude that the model belongs to a new universality class, distinct from that studied by Kardar, Parisi and Zhang.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures (included

The Irreducible String and an Infinity of Additional Constants of Motion in a Deposition-Evaporation Model on a Line

We study a model of stochastic deposition-evaporation with recombination, of three species of dimers on a line. This model is a generalization of the model recently introduced by Barma {\it et. al.} (1993 {\it Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 70} 1033) to $q\ge 3$ states per site. It has an infinite number of constants of motion, in addition to the infinity of conservation laws of the original model which are encoded as the conservation of the irreducible string. We determine the number of dynamically disconnected sectors and their sizes in this model exactly. Using the additional symmetry we construct a class of exact eigenvectors of the stochastic matrix. The autocorrelation function decays with different powers of $t$ in different sectors. We find that the spatial correlation function has an algebraic decay with exponent 3/2, in the sector corresponding to the initial state in which all sites are in the same state. The dynamical exponent is nontrivial in this sector, and we estimate it numerically by exact diagonalization of the stochastic matrix for small sizes. We find that in this case $z=2.39\pm0.05$.Comment: Some minor errors in the first version has been correcte

Two simple models of classical heat pumps

Motivated by recent studies on models of particle and heat quantum pumps, we study similar simple classical models and examine the possibility of heat pumping. Unlike many of the usual ratchet models of molecular engines, the models we study do not have particle transport. We consider a two-spin system and a coupled oscillator system which exchange heat with multiple heat reservoirs and which are acted upon by periodic forces. The simplicity of our models allows accurate numerical and exact solutions and unambiguous interpretation of results. We demonstrate that while both our models seem to be built on similar principles, one is able to function as a heat pump (or engine) while the other is not.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in a Driven Sandpile Model

We construct a driven sandpile slope model and study it by numerical simulations in one dimension. The model is specified by a threshold slope \sigma_c\/, a parameter \alpha\/, governing the local current-slope relation (beyond threshold), and $j_{\rm in}$, the mean input current of sand. A nonequilibrium phase diagram is obtained in the \alpha\, -\, j_{\rm in}\/ plane. We find an infinity of phases, characterized by different mean slopes and separated by continuous or first-order boundaries, some of which we obtain analytically. Extensions to two dimensions are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX (preprint format), 4 figures available upon requs

Effect of phonon-phonon interactions on localization

We study the heat current J in a classical one-dimensional disordered chain with on-site pinning and with ends connected to stochastic thermal reservoirs at different temperatures. In the absence of anharmonicity all modes are localized and there is a gap in the spectrum. Consequently J decays exponentially with system size N. Using simulations we find that even a small amount of anharmonicity leads to a J~1/N dependence, implying diffusive transport of energy.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Published versio