Extremal noise events, intermittency and Log-Poisson statistics in non-equilibrium aging of complex systems

Abstract

We review the close link between intermittent events ('quakes') and extremal noise fluctuations which has been advocated in recent numerical and theoretical work. From the idea that record-breaking noise fluctuations trigger the quakes, an approximate analytical description of non-equilibrium aging as a Poisson process with logarithmic time arguments can be derived. Theoretical predictions for measurable statistical properties of mesoscopic fluctuations are emphasized, and supporting numerical evidence is included from simulations of short-ranged Ising spin-glass models, of the ROM model of vortex dynamics in type II superconductors, and of the Tangled Nature model of biological evolution.