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March 25, Friday
10:00 – 12:00

Originating in statistical physics, the Abelian Sandpile Model is a diffusion process on finite graphs with a remarkably rich theory that connects the fields of algebraic graph theory, discrete dynamical systems, stochastic processes, commutative semigroups and groups, number theory, algorithms and complexity theory, and more. After a general introduction highlighting classical result by Deepak Dhar and others, I will outline recent work, in part with my former students Evelin Toumpakari and Igor Gorodezky, on the transition from "transient" to "recurrent"states in this model. I will conclude with open algorithmic problems.