An invariant distribution in static granular media

Abstract

We have discovered an invariant distribution for local packing configurations in static granular media. This distribution holds in experiments for packing fractions covering most of the range from random loose packed to random close packed, for beads packed both in air and in water. Assuming only that there exist elementary cells in which the system volume is subdivided, we derive from statistical mechanics a distribution that is in accord with the observations. This universal distribution function for granular media is analogous to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for molecular gasses.

4 pages 3 figures

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