Ultrametricity and memory in a solvable model of self-organized criticality

Slowly driven dissipative systems may evolve to a critical state where long periods of apparent equilibrium are punctuated by intermittent avalanches of activity. We present a self-organized critical model of punctuated equilibrium behavior in the context of biological evolution, and solve it in the limit that the number of independent traits for each species diverges. We derive an exact equation of motion for the avalanche dynamics from the microscopic rules. In the continuum limit, avalanches propagate via a diffusion equation with a nonlocal, history dependent potential representing memory. This nonlocal potential gives rise to a non-Gaussian (fat) tail for the subdiffusive spreading of activity. The probability for the activity to spread beyond a distance r in time s decays as √(24/π)s^-3/2x^1/3exp[-3/4x^1/3] for x=r⁴/s≫1. The potential represents a hierarchy of time scales that is dynamically generated by the ultrametric structure of avalanches, which can be quantified in terms of ‘‘backward’’ avalanches. In addition, a number of other correlation functions characterizing the punctuated equilibrium dynamics are determined exactly.