4,958 research outputs found
Simulation of the Burridge-Knopoff Model of Earthquakes with Variable Range Stress Transfer
Simple models of earthquake faults are important for understanding the
mechanisms for their observed behavior, such as Gutenberg-Richter scaling and
the relation between large and small events, which is the basis for various
forecasting methods. Although cellular automaton models have been studied
extensively in the long-range stress transfer limit, this limit has not been
studied for the Burridge-Knopoff model, which includes more realistic friction
forces and inertia. We find that the latter model with long-range stress
transfer exhibits qualitatively different behavior than both the long-range
cellular automaton models and the usual Burridge-Knopoff model with nearest
neighbor springs, depending on the nature of the velocity-weakening friction
force. This result has important implications for our understanding of
earthquakes and other driven dissipative systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, published on Phys. Rev. Let
Approaching equilibrium and the distribution of clusters
We investigate the approach to stable and metastable equilibrium in Ising
models using a cluster representation. The distribution of nucleation times is
determined using the Metropolis algorithm and the corresponding
model using Langevin dynamics. We find that the nucleation rate is suppressed
at early times even after global variables such as the magnetization and energy
have apparently reached their time independent values. The mean number of
clusters whose size is comparable to the size of the nucleating droplet becomes
time independent at about the same time that the nucleation rate reaches its
constant value. We also find subtle structural differences between the
nucleating droplets formed before and after apparent metastable equilibrium has
been established.Comment: 22 pages, 16 figure
Near mean-field behavior in the generalized Burridge-Knopoff earthquake model with variable range stress transfer
Simple models of earthquake faults are important for understanding the
mechanisms for their observed behavior in nature, such as Gutenberg-Richter
scaling. Because of the importance of long-range interactions in an elastic
medium, we generalize the Burridge-Knopoff slider-block model to include
variable range stress transfer. We find that the Burridge-Knopoff model with
long-range stress transfer exhibits qualitatively different behavior than the
corresponding long-range cellular automata models and the usual
Burridge-Knopoff model with nearest-neighbor stress transfer, depending on how
quickly the friction force weakens with increasing velocity. Extensive
simulations of quasiperiodic characteristic events, mode-switching phenomena,
ergodicity, and waiting-time distributions are also discussed. Our results are
consistent with the existence of a mean-field critical point and have important
implications for our understanding of earthquakes and other driven dissipative
systems.Comment: 24 pages 12 figures, revised version for Phys. Rev.
Clusters and Fluctuations at Mean-Field Critical Points and Spinodals
We show that the structure of the fluctuations close to spinodals and
mean-field critical points is qualitatively different than the structure close
to non-mean-field critical points. This difference has important implications
for many areas including the formation of glasses in supercooled liquids. In
particular, the divergence of the measured static structure function in
near-mean-field systems close to the glass transition is suppressed relative to
the mean-field prediction in systems for which a spatial symmetry is broken.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Monte Carlo study of the Widom-Rowlinson fluid using cluster methods
The Widom-Rowlinson model of a fluid mixture is studied using a new cluster
algorithm that is a generalization of the invaded cluster algorithm previously
applied to Potts models. Our estimate of the critical exponents for the
two-component fluid are consistent with the Ising universality class in two and
three dimensions. We also present results for the three-component fluid.Comment: 13 pages RevTex and 2 Postscript figure
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