A multitude of systems ranging from the Barkhausen effect in ferromagnetic materials to plastic deformation and earthquakes respond to slow external driving by exhibiting intermittent, scale-free avalanche dynamics or crackling noise. The avalanches are power-law distributed in size, and have a typical average shape: these are the two most important signatures of avalanching systems. Here we sh...

Avalanche dynamics has been described in organotypic cultures and acute slices from rat cortex. Its distinctive feature is a statistical distribution of avalanche size and duration following a power law with specific exponents, corresponding to near-critical state. We asked whether the same dynamics is present in dissociated cultures from rat embryos, which are characterized by complete lack of...

Complex systems such as those in evolution, growth and depinning models do not evolve slowly and gradually, but exhibit avalanche dynamics or punctuated equilibria. Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) and Highly Optimized Tolerance (HOT) are two theoretical models that explain such avalanche dynamics. We have studied avalanche dynamics in two vastly different grid computing systems: Optimal Grid a...

The purpose of the present paper is to propose a new method for avalanche hazard mapping using a combination of statistical and deterministic modelling tools. The methodology is based on frequency-weighted impact pressure, and uses an avalanche dynamics model embedded within a statistical framework. The outlined procedure provides a useful way for avalanche experts to produce hazard maps for th...

We describe a directed avalanche model; a slowly unloading sandbox driven by lowering a retaining wall. The directness of the dynamics allows us to interpret the stable sand surfaces as world sheets of fluctuating interfaces in one lower dimension. In our specific case, the interface growth dynamics belongs to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. We formulate relations between the ...

Avalanches of various sizes occur due to instability during sand dune dynamics. A physically viable equation to model sand dune dynamics is a first order nonlinear difference equation. To visualize the size distribution of avalanches, sand dune dynamics has been numerically simulated by changing the strength of nonlinearity parameter (λ) that shows different impacts on dune dynamics. An equatio...

We study avalanche dynamics and local activity of forced-flow imbibition fronts in disordered media. We focus on the front dynamics as the mean velocity of the interface v is decreased and the pinning state is approached. Scaling arguments allow us to obtain the statistics of avalanche sizes and durations, which become power-law distributed due to the existence of a critical point at v=0 . Resu...