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Updated: Apr 3, 2026

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Published on: February 22, 2018
Particle-density fluctuations and universality in the conserved stochastic sandpile
Ronald Dickman1,2, S D da Cunha3
1Departamento de Física, ICEx, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 702, 30161-970 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Abstract:
We examine fluctuations in particle density in the restricted-height, conserved stochastic sandpile (CSS). In this and related models, the global particle density is a temperaturelike control parameter. Thus local fluctuations in this density correspond to disorder; if this disorder is a relevant perturbation of directed percolation (DP), then the CSS should exhibit non-DP critical behavior. We analyze the scaling of the variance Vℓ of the number of particles in regions of ℓd sites in extensive simulations of the quasistationary state in one and two dimensions. Our results, combined with a Harris-like argument for the relevance of particle-density fluctuations, strongly suggest that conserved stochastic sandpiles belong to a universality class distinct from that of DP.
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