(The identity configuration for the abelian sandpile model on a 198 by
198 grid; taken from page 18 of Michael Creutz's excellent article
Cellular Automata and Self-Organized Criticality.
If you like this picture, you can wear it on a
tee-shirt!)
The University's of Wisconsin's Spatial Systems Laboratory (that's SSL
for short -- pronounced "sizzle") is a gathering of undergraduates,
graduate students, and UW faculty engaged in exploring mathematical
systems drawn from or inspired by the real world. These models are
simple enough for us to simulate and prove theorems about,
but rich enough in phenomena that we hope that our explorations will
generate insights that may be of interest to people outside of
mathematics.
The featured project for Spring 2000 is a team research effort
focusing on a class of models called abelian sandpile models
(though they have been invented several times, under names such
as "the probabilistic abacus" or "the chip-firing game"). You
can find a little more information about
the rules --- or you can get
software
that'll let you make some pictures of your own!
To learn more about these models, click here.
You can also look at the minutes
of our meetings during the Spring 2000 semester (written by
the undergraduate participants), or
go to the chip-firing web-pages
of the student participants themselves.
(For access to other project-related material,
contact Jim Propp.)
There is also a project involving the modeling of traffic flow
(and traffic jams!), under the supervision of David Griffeath.
This will be the focus of SSL during Fall 2000.
The Spatial Systems Laboratory during Spring2000 consists of
the following people:
Undergraduate participants:
Graduate students:
Principal investigator:
SSL is sponsored by the National Science Foundation through their
VIGRE (Vertical Integration of Graduate Research and Education)
program, with supplemental support from the National Science
Foundation's REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program
and from the National Security Agency.
This page maintained by
Jim Propp
Last updated February 16, 2000
