Caging dynamics in a granular fluid

Abstract

We report an experimental investigation of the caging motion in a uniformly heated granular fluid, for a wide range of filling fractions, $\varphi$. At low $\varphi$ the classic diffusive behavior of a fluid is observed. However, as $\varphi$ is increased, temporary cages develop and particles become increasingly trapped by their neighbors. We statistically analyze particle trajectories and observe a number of robust features typically associated with dense molecular liquids and colloids. Even though our monodisperse and quasi-2D system is known to not exhibit a glass transition, we still observe many of the precursors usually associated with glassy dynamics. We speculate that this is due to a process of structural arrest provided, in our case, by the presence of crystallization.

4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

References in corpus (3)

• Crystallization of a quasi-two-dimensional granular fluid
• Approach to jamming in an air-fluidized granular bed
• Do Binary Hard Disks Exhibit an Ideal Glass Transition?

Cited by in corpus (5)

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• Unexpected drop of dynamical heterogeneities in colloidal suspensions approaching the jamming transition
• Universal velocity distributions in an experimental granular fluid
• A percolation model for slow dynamics in glass-forming materials
• Direct-space investigation of the ultraslow ballistic dynamics of a soft glass