Self-Organised Criticality
Theory, Models and Characterisation

An overview of results and methods, written for graduates and researchers in physics, mathematics, biology, sociology, finance, medicine and engineering.

Gunnar Pruessner (Author)

9780521853354, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 August 2012

516 pages, 85 b/w illus. 22 tables
25.3 x 19.2 x 2.5 cm, 1.28 kg

'… a modern, careful and authoritative text on Self-Organised Criticality (SOC) … an excellent reference book on what SOC is and is not with connections to theory (analytical and simulations), experiments, and applications. The foreword by H. J. Jensen nicely describes the controversy surrounding SOC and its history.' Donald T. Jacobs, American Journal of Physics

Giving a detailed overview of the subject, this book takes in the results and methods that have arisen since the term 'self-organised criticality' was coined twenty years ago. Providing an overview of numerical and analytical methods, from their theoretical foundation to the actual application and implementation, the book is an easy access point to important results and sophisticated methods. Starting with the famous Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld sandpile, ten key models are carefully defined, together with their results and applications. Comprehensive tables of numerical results are collected in one volume for the first time, making the information readily accessible to readers. Written for graduate students and practising researchers in a range of disciplines, from physics and mathematics to biology, sociology, finance, medicine and engineering, the book gives a practical, hands-on approach throughout. Methods and results are applied in ways that will relate to the reader's own research.

1. Introduction
2. Scaling
3. Experiments and observations
4. Deterministic sandpiles
5. Dissipative models
6. Stochastic sandpiles
7. Numerical methods and data analysis
8. Analytical results
9. Mechanisms of SOC
10. Summary and discussion
Index.

Subject Areas: Mechanics of fluids [TGMF], Statistical physics [PHS], Fluid mechanics [PHDF]