Paper detail

Parallel Chip-Firing on the Complete Graph: Devil's Staircase and Poincare Rotation Number

We study how parallel chip-firing on the complete graph K_n changes behavior as we vary the total number of chips. Surprisingly, the activity of the system, defined as the average number of firings per time step, does not increase smoothly in the number of chips; instead it remains constant over long intervals, punctuated by sudden jumps. In the large n limit we find a "devil's staircase" dependence of activity on the number of chips. The proof proceeds by reducing the chip-firing dynamics to iteration of a self-map of the circle S^1, in such a way that the activity of the chip-firing state equals the Poincare rotation number of the circle map. The stairs of the devil's staircase correspond to periodic chip-firing states of small period.

preprint2010arXivOpen access

Signal facts

What is known right now

Open access1 author3 topics

Next steps

Decide what to do with this paper

Use like or dislike for the fast social read. The more specific scholarly feedback stays available below when needed.

Log in to curate

Reading frame

Keep the important context close to the paper

Keep the important signals around this paper in one place: votes, save state, collection context, reviews and the metadata you need before deciding what to do next.

Institutions

Add specific reaction

Move through the context

Research map

Open full explorer

Move through nearby people, institutions, topics and adjacent work without leaving the paper page.

Building this map preview

BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.

Structured reviews

0 review(s)

ContributeLeave structured feedbackUse the review template when you have a concrete strength, concern or method question.Open review form

No structured reviews yet. High-signal critique starts here.

Work discussion

0 comment(s)

DiscussAdd a high-signal commentKeep quick notes, caveats and replication pointers separate from formal reviews.Open comment form

No discussion yet. The first strong comment sets the tone.