Figure 3. Statistics of energy drops as a function of strain amplitude γ_max and system size N.

Distributions of energy drops (a) for N=4,000 show no clear separation of γ_max<γ_y and γ_max>γ_y, whereas (b) for N=32,000 a clear separation is visible. In both cases, a power law regime is apparent, with exponent ∼1.25. (c) Mean energy drops versus γ_max, indicating a sharp change at γ_y. (d) Mean energy drops considering only plastic regions show no system size dependence below γ_y. (e) Mean energy drop (plastic component) versus system size N shows no significant size dependence for γ_max<γ_y but a clear N^1/3 dependence above. A crossover in behaviour is seen for γ_max=0.08. Lines, with N⁰ (constant) and N^1/3 dependence, are guides to the eye. (f) Mean energy drops (total) for bins in strain γ for different γ_max for N=32,000, T=1 showing no dependence on γ_max, and only a mild dependence on strain γ, for two distinct sets, below and above yield strain γ_y. Data shown are for T=1, and averages are over the first quadrant.