Minimal descriptions of cyclic memories

Understand

Many materials that are out of equilibrium can "learn" one or more inputs that are repeatedly applied.

• Yet, a common framework for understanding such memories is lacking.
• Here we construct minimal representations of cyclic memory behaviors as directed graphs, and we construct simple physically-motivated models that produce the same graph structures.
• We show how a model of worn grass between park benches can produce multiple transient memories---a behavior previously observed in dilute suspensions of particles and charge-density-wave conductors---and the Mullins effect.