Related papers: Simulated Dynamical Weakening and Abelian Avalanch…
Mean field slider block models have provided an important entry point for understanding the behavior of discrete driven threshold systems. We present a method of constructing these models with an arbitrary frictional weakening function.…
Slowly driven elastic interfaces, such as domain walls in dirty magnets, contact lines, or cracks proceed via intermittent motion, called avalanches. We develop a field-theoretic treatment to calculate, from first principles, the space-time…
Many complex systems respond to a continuous input of energy by an accumulation of stress over time, interrupted by sudden energy releases called avalanches. Recently, it has been pointed out that several basic features of avalanche…
In many complex systems a continuous input of energy over time can be suddenly relaxed in the form of avalanches. Conventional avalanche models disregard the possibility of internal dynamical effects in the inter-avalanche periods, and thus…
In this thesis I discuss analytical approaches to disordered systems using field theory. Disordered systems are characterized by a random energy landscape due to heterogeneities, which remains fixed on the time scales of the phenomena…
Power law distributed fluctuations are known to accompany \emph{terminal} failure in disordered brittle solids. The associated intermittent scale-free behavior is of interest from the fundamental point of view as it emerges universally from…
Disordered systems are characterized by the existence of many sample- dependent local energy minima, that cause a stepwise response when the system is perturbed. In this article we use an approach based on elementary probabilistic methods…
We study the coarsening dynamics of a two dimensional system via lattice Boltzmann numerical simulations. The system under consideration is a biphasic system consisting of domains of a dispersed phase closely packed together in a continuous…
Record-breaking avalanches generated by the dynamics of several driven nonlinear threshold models are studied. Such systems are characterized by intermittent behavior, where slow buildup of energy is punctuated by an abrupt release of…
Disordered systems submitted to a slowly increasing external stress often reacts with a jerky dynamics characterized by bursts of activity, called avalanches, which are the manifestation of an out-of-equilibrium phase transition. This…
A variety of studies have modeled the physics of material deformation and damage as examples of generalized phase transitions, involving either critical phenomena or spinodal nucleation. Here we study a model for frictional sliding with…
We study the scaling properties of avalanche activity in the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model. Instead of the conventional avalanche size distribution, we analyze the site activity distribution, which measures how often a site…
A spatial avalanche model is introduced, in which avalanches increase stability in the regions where they occur. Instability is driven globally by a driving process that contains shocks. The system is typically subcritical, but the shocks…
Elastic systems, such as magnetic domain walls, density waves, contact lines, and cracks, are all pinned by substrate disorder. When driven, they move via successive jumps called avalanches, with power law distributions of size, duration…
A precursory dynamics, motivated by the analysis of recent experiments on solid-on-solid friction, is introduced in a continuous cellular automaton that mimics the essential physical contents of earthquake source processes. The resulting…
When complex systems are driven to extinction by some external factor, their non-stationary dynamics can present an intermittent behaviour between relative tranquility and burst of activity whose consequences are often catastrophic. To…
The mean-field theory of Kinetically-Constrained-Models is developed by considering the Fredrickson-Andersen model on the Bethe lattice. Using certain properties of the dynamics observed in actual numerical experiments we derive asymptotic…
We investigate the breakdown of disordered networks under the action of an increasing external---mechanical or electrical---force. We perform a mean-field analysis and estimate scaling exponents for the approach to the instability. By…
Slip at a frictional interface occurs via intermittent events. Understanding how these events are nucleated, can propagate, or stop spontaneously remains a challenge, central to earthquake science and tribology. In the absence of disorder,…
A model for fault dynamics consisting of two rough and rigid brownian profiles that slide one over the other is introduced. An earthquake occurs when there is an intersection between the two profiles. The energy release is proportional to…