  We study stochastic sandpile models with a height restriction in one and two
dimensions. A site can topple if it has a height of two, as in Manna's model,
but, in contrast to previously studied sandpiles, here the height (or number of
particles per site), cannot exceed two. This yields a considerable
simplification over the unrestricted case, in which the number of states per
site is unbounded. Two toppling rules are considered: in one, the particles are
redistributed independently, while the other involves some cooperativity. We
study the fixed-energy system (no input or loss of particles) using cluster
approximations and extensive simulations, and find that it exhibits a
continuous phase transition to an absorbing state at a critical value zeta_c of
the particle density. The critical exponents agree with those of the
unrestricted Manna sandpile.
