Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · cond-mat/9803057

Gutenberg Richter and Characteristic Earthquake Behavior in Simple Mean-Field Models of Heterogeneous Faults

Karin Dahmen·Deniz Ertas·Yehuda Ben-Zion
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The statistics of earthquakes in a heterogeneous fault zone is studied analytically and numerically in the mean field version of a model for a segmented fault system in a three-dimensional elastic solid. The studies focus on the interplay between the roles of disorder, dynamical effects, and driving mechanisms. A two-parameter phase diagram is found, spanned by the amplitude of dynamical weakening (or ``overshoot'') effects (epsilon) and the normal distance (L) of the driving forces from the fault. In general, small epsilon and small L are found to produce Gutenberg-Richter type power law statistics with an exponential cutoff, while large epsilon and large L lead to a distribution of small events combined with characteristic system-size events. In a certain parameter regime the behavior is bistable, with transitions back and forth from one phase to the other on time scales determined by the fault size and other model parameters. The implications for realistic earthquake statistics are discussed.

Explore related subjects

cond-mat.dis-nncond-mat.stat-mech

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Karin Dahmen, Deniz Ertas, Yehuda Ben-Zion. 1998-03-04. Gutenberg Richter and Characteristic Earthquake Behavior in Simple Mean-Field Models of Heterogeneous Faults. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.58.1494

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Deep-layered machines have a built-in Occam's razor

Many complex systems map vast numbers of microscopic descriptions onto far fewer macroscopic outcomes. Surprisingly, these input-output maps strongly favor simple outputs. In an exactly solvable deep-layered machine, we prove that simplicity bias strengthens with every layer. The probability of an output function $F$ approaches $\Pr(F)\propto 2^{-K(F)}$, where $K$ is the Kolmogorov complexity. Our results show that hierarchical composition alone can generate an intrinsic Occam's razor, suggesting a general mechanism for simplicity bias in learning and evolution.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2026

Neural Networks with Exciton-Polariton Waveguides

We propose and numerically study a scheme for neural networks using exciton-polariton waveguide meshes. These enable arbitrary programmable interlayer couplings suited to a restricted Boltzmann machine architecture where polariton phases act as stochastic network variables. We show that such a network can be trained using unsupervised Hebbian and anti-Hebbian updates. This allows the implementation of an associative memory, where the network recovers learned patterns from imperfect inputs.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2026

Finite-width shift of the edge of chaos in deep neural networks

Deep neural networks train best when they are initialised at the edge of chaos, the critical line in the plane of weight and bias variances on which the distance between two inputs neither grows nor shrinks with depth. The line is known for infinitely wide networks; at finite width it moves, and how it moves has been disputed. We treat the logarithm of the distance between two inputs through a network of width $N$ as a random walk and compute its drift and variance to order $1/N$. The edge of chaos moves to a larger weight variance, by $Δσ_w^2=-a_1/(N\,\partial_{σ_w^2}\lnχ_1)$, about $8/N$ for $\tanh$ networks at a bias variance of $0.05$, confirmed by simulations of the exact finite-width recursion. The shift describes a typical network; the average over many networks is dominated by rare networks in which the distance grows, and its critical point moves the other way, which explains why calculations and simulations have disagreed. Backpropagation follows the same random walk, so the shift applies to gradients unchanged. Along the edge of chaos, the information about the similarity of two inputs is constant until the compression over the depth exceeds about one nat, which fixes where to sit on the line. The results give an initialisation rule, Crinit, that places a network on its finite-width edge of chaos without a search. On MNIST and Fashion-MNIST at width $64$ it is more accurate than the standard rules at their usual settings, by a small margin in shallow networks and a large one in deep networks, where most standard rules fail; it trains in fewer steps, and it matches or beats the standard rules with a tuned gain.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗