Avalanches in bi-directional sandpile and burning models: a comparative study

Abstract. We perform a statistical analysis of two onedimensional avalanching models: the bi-directional sandpile and the burning model (described in detail in the companion paper by Gedalin et al. (2005) “Dynamics of the burning model”). Such a comparison helps understand whether very limited measurements done by a remote observer may provide sufficient information to distinguish between the two physically different avalanching systems. We show that the passive phase duration reflects the avalanching nature of the system. The cluster size analysis may provide some clues. The distribution of the active phase durations shows a clear difference between the two models, reflecting the dependence on the internal dynamics. Deeper insight into the active phase duration distribution even provides information about the system parameters.