Abelian Sandpile — Toppling Waves

The Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld sandpile model exhibits self-organized criticality: add sand grains one at a time; when a cell reaches 4 grains it topples, distributing one grain to each neighbor. The set of stable configurations forms an Abelian group under addition mod toppling — the identity element produces stunning fractal patterns. Click to add sand.

20/frame
Classic