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dc=4 is the upper critical dimension for the Bak-Sneppen model

S. Boettcher, M. Paczuski

cond-mat.stat-mecharXiv:cond-mat/9911273

Abstract

Numerical results are presented indicating dc=4 as the upper critical dimension for the Bak-Sneppen evolution model. This finding agrees with previous theoretical arguments, but contradicts a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5746-5749 (1998)] that placed dc as high as d=8. In particular, we find that avalanches are compact for all dimensions d<=4, and are fractal for d>4. Under those conditions, scaling arguments predict a dc=4, where hyperscaling relations hold for d<=4. Other properties of avalanches, studied for 1<=d<=6, corroborate this result. To this end, an improved numerical algorithm is presented that is based on the equivalent branching process.

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