Avalanche-size distribution at the depinning transition: A numerical test of the theory

TL;DR

This paper numerically investigates avalanche-size distributions at the depinning transition of elastic interfaces, confirming theoretical predictions and revealing detailed scaling behaviors and universal functions.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive numerical test of the functional RG predictions for avalanche-size distributions at depinning, including scaling functions and exponents.

Findings

Avalanche-size distribution follows a universal scaling form.

The measured avalanche exponent tau agrees with the conjecture tau = 2 - 2/(d+zeta).

The scaling function f(s) shows a shoulder and stretched exponential decay, matching FRG predictions.

Abstract

We calculate numerically the sizes S of jumps (avalanches) between successively pinned configurations of an elastic line (d=1) or interface (d=2), pulled by a spring of (small) strength m^2 in a random-field landscape. We obtain strong evidence that the size distribution, away from the small-scale cutoff, takes the form P(S) = p(S/S_m) <S>/S_m^2, where S_m:=<S^2>/(2<S>), proportional to m^(-d-zeta), is the scale of avalanches, and zeta the roughness exponent at the depinning transition. Measurement of the scaling function f(s) := s^tau p(s) is compared with the predictions from a recent Functional RG (FRG) calculation, both at mean-field and one-loop level. The avalanche-size exponent tau is found in good agreement with the conjecture tau = 2- 2/(d+zeta), recently confirmed to one loop via the FRG. The function f(s) exhibits a shoulder and a stretched exponential decay at large s, with ln f(s) proportional to - s^delta, and delta approximately 7/6 in d=1. The function f(s), universal ratios of moments, and the generating function <exp(lambda s)> are found in excellent agreement with the one-loop FRG predictions. The distribution of local avalanche sizes, i.e. of the jumps of a subspace of the manifold of dimension d', is also computed and compared to our FRG predictions, and to the conjecture tau' =2- 2/(d'+zeta).