Two Diverging Length Scales in the Structure of Jammed Packings

Daniel Hexner, Andrea J. Liu, and Sidney R. Nagel
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 115501 – Published 11 September 2018

Abstract

At densities higher than the jamming transition for athermal, frictionless repulsive spheres we find two distinct length scales, both of which diverge as a power law as the transition is approached. The first, ξZ, is associated with the two-point correlation function for the number of contacts on two particles as a function of the particle separation. The second, ξf, is associated with contact-number fluctuations in subsystems of different sizes. On scales below ξf, the fluctuations are highly suppressed, similar to the phenomenon of hyperuniformity usually associated with density fluctuations. The exponents for the divergence of ξZ and ξf are different and appear to be different in two and three dimensions.

  • Figure
  • Received 19 October 2017
  • Revised 11 June 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.115501

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsPolymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

Daniel Hexner*

  • The James Franck Institute and Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Andrea J. Liu

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Sidney R. Nagel

  • The James Franck and Enrico Fermi Institutes and Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

  • *danielhe2@uchicago.edu

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Vol. 121, Iss. 11 — 14 September 2018

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