Jamming and the properties of amorphous packings at zero temperature
Abstract
The concept of jamming is examined in amorphous packings of frictionless spheres at zero temperature. A well-defined transition occurs where the particles just come out of contact and the shear modulus goes to zero as the packing fraction approaches the jamming threshold. Scaling properties reminiscent of critical phenomena are observed in the region of the transition point. Calculations of the vibrational spectrum show that the number of low-energy modes increases dramatically as the transition is approached and greatly exceeds the value expected from the solid state theory of crystals. The low-frequency modes do not conform to typical phonon behaviour, yet the notion of zone boundaries persists for these disordered materials.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004APS..MAR.P3002S