Roughness of time series in a critical interface model

Abstract

We study roughness probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the time signal for a critical interface model, which is known to provide a good description of Barkhausen noise in soft ferromagnets. Starting with time ``windows'' of data collection much larger than the system's internal ``loading time'' (related to demagnetization effects), we show that the initial Gaussian shape of the PDF evolves into a double-Gaussian structure as window width decreases. We supply a physical explanation for such structure, which is compatible with the observed numerical data. Connections to experiment are suggested.