Sandpiles on the heptagonal tiling (Q2835371)

Let \(\Gamma\) be the graph formed by the vertices and edges of the tiling of the hyperbolic plane by equilateral triangles with inner angles of size \(2\pi/7\), and let \(\Gamma_m\) be the subgraph of \(\Gamma\) consisting of all vertices of \(\Gamma\) whose graph distance from a fixed vertex \(O\) is at most \(m\). A \textit{state} \(\varphi\) (i.e., a distribution of sand grains) on \(\Gamma_m\) is a function mapping the vertices of \(\Gamma_m\) into the non-negative integers. If \(\varphi(v) \geq 7\) for a vertex \(v\), the \textit{toppling operator} \(T_v\) is applicable to \(\varphi\). It reduces the value of \(\varphi\) at \(v\) by \(7\) and increases the value of \(\varphi\) at every neighbor of \(v\) by \(1\). A state \(\varphi\) is called \textit{stable} if no toppling is applicable; i.e., if \(\varphi\) has its values in \(\{0,\ldots,6\}\). Given a state \(\psi_0\) on \(\Gamma_m\), a \textit{relaxation} of \(\psi_0\) is a sequence \(\psi_0,\psi_1,\ldots,\psi_N\) of states obtained by successive applications of toppling such that \(\psi_N\) is stable. The resulting state \(\psi_N\) does not depend on the particular relaxation, but only on \(\psi_0\).NEWLINENEWLINEThe paper under review studies relaxations of states \(\psi_0\) with values in \(\{6,7\}\).