ON FIRING HORSES.

Notes on Firing Theory

Parallel Chip Firing on Digraphs

Given some multidigraph , a state is any dist ribut ion of some chips on its vert ices. We transform t his initial st ate step by step. Every vert ex checks whet her it is able to send one chip through every outgoing arc. If it can, it does; otherwise it does not send any chip. All vert ices check and send in parallel. Finally, at every vert ex all incoming chips are added to the remaining chip...

Chip-firing Games on Graphs

We analyze the following (solitaire) game: each node of a graph contains a pile of chips, and a move consists of selecting a node with at least as many chips on it as its degree, and let it send one chip to each of its neighbors. The game terminates if there is no such node. We show that the finiteness of the game and the terminating configuration are independent of the moves made. If the numbe...

Firing Synchronization on the Ring

We present two solutions to the firing synchronization problem on the ring, an 8-state minimal-time solution and a 6-state non-minimal-time solution. Both solutions use fewer states than the previous best-known minimal-time automaton, a 16-state solution due to Culik. We also give the first lower bounds on the number of states needed for solutions to the ring firing synchronization problem. We ...

On Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Horses

Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (EGA) is an acute tick-borne infection caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The bacterium can infect various animal species and humans. Persistence of infection is documented in ruminants and is shown experimentally in dogs, but it is unknown whether it occurs in horses or if EGA induces longer-term clinical changes in horses. This thesis includes results and an...