Absorbing-state transitions in particulate systems under spatially varying driving

Abstract

We study the absorbing state transition in particulate systems under spatially inhomogeneous driving using a modified random organization model. For smoothly varying driving the steady state results map onto the homogeneous absorbing state phase diagram, with the position of the boundary between absorbing and diffusive states being insensitive to the driving wavelength. Here the phenomenology is well-described by a one-dimensional continuum model that we pose. For discontinuously varying driving the position of the absorbing phase boundary and the exponent characterising the fraction of active particles are altered relative to the homogeneous case.