Patterns and collective behavior in granular media: Theoretical concepts

Igor S. Aranson and Lev S. Tsimring
Rev. Mod. Phys. 78, 641 – Published 1 June 2006

Abstract

Granular materials are ubiquitous in our daily lives. While they have been the subject of intensive engineering research for centuries, in the last two decades granular matter has attracted significant attention from physicists. Yet despite major efforts by many groups, the theoretical description of granular systems remains largely a plethora of different, often contradictory concepts and approaches. Various theoretical models have emerged for describing the onset of collective behavior and pattern formation in granular matter. This review surveys a number of situations in which nontrivial patterns emerge in granular systems, elucidates important distinctions between these phenomena and similar ones occurring in continuum fluids, and describes general principles and models of pattern formation in complex systems that have been successfully applied to granular systems.

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    DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.78.641

    ©2006 American Physical Society

    Authors & Affiliations

    Igor S. Aranson*

    • Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA

    Lev S. Tsimring

    • Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA

    • *Electronic address: aronson@msd.anl.gov
    • Electronic address: ltsimring@ucsd.edu

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    Issue

    Vol. 78, Iss. 2 — April - June 2006

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