Critical properties of the one-dimensional forest-fire model

A one-dimensional forest-fire model including lightnings is studied numerically and analytically. For the tree correlation function, a new correlation length with critical exponent v ≈ 56 is found by simulations. A Hamiltonian formulation is introduced which enables one to study the stationary state close to the critical point using quantum-mechanical perturbation theory. With this formulation also the structure of the low-lying relaxation spectrum and the critical behaviour of the smallest complex gap are investigated numerically. Finally, it is shown that critical correlation functions can be obtained from a simplified model involving only the total number of trees although such simplified models are unable to reproduce the correct off-critical behaviour.