Avalanches, thresholds, and diffusion in mesoscale amorphous plasticity

We present results on a mesoscale model for amorphous matter in athermal, quasistatic (a-AQS), steady-state shear flow. In particular, we perform a careful analysis of the scaling with the lateral system size L of (i) statistics of individual relaxation events in terms of stress relaxation S, and individual event mean-squared displacement M, and the subsequent load increments Δγ, required to initiate the next event; (ii) static properties of the system encoded by x=σ_{y}-σ, the distance of local stress values from threshold; and (iii) long-time correlations and the emergence of diffusive behavior. For the event statistics, we find that the distribution of S is similar to, but distinct from, the distribution of M. We find a strong correlation between S and M for any particular event, with S∼M^{q} with q≈0.65. The exponent q completely determines the scaling exponents for P(M) given those for P(S). For the distribution of local thresholds, we find P(x) is analytic at x=0, and has a value P(x)|_{x=0}=p_{0} which scales with lateral system length as p_{0}∝L^{-0.6}. The size dependence of the average load increment 〈Δγ〉 appears to be asymptotically controlled by the plateau behavior of P(x) rather than by a subsequent apparent power-law behavior. Extreme value statistics arguments lead thus to a scaling relation between the exponents governing P(x) and those governing P(S). Finally, we study the long-time correlations via single-particle tracer statistics. The value of the diffusion coefficient is completely determined by 〈Δγ〉 and the scaling properties of P(M) (in particular from 〈M〉) rather than directly from P(S) as one might have naively guessed. Our results (i) further define the a-AQS universality class, (ii) clarify the relation between avalanches of stress relaxation and diffusive behavior, and (iii) clarify the relation between local threshold distributions and event statistics.