Is random close packing of spheres well defined?

Despite its long history, there are many fundamental issues concerning random packings of spheres that remain elusive, including a precise definition of random close packing (RCP). We argue that the current picture of RCP cannot be made mathematically precise and support this conclusion via a molecu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2000-03, Vol.84 (10), p.2064-2067
Main Authors: Torquato, S, Truskett, TM, Debenedetti, PG
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
HARD-SPHERE MODEL
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOLECULAR DYNAMICS METHOD
ORDER PARAMETERS
RANDOMNESS
SPHERES
STRUCTURAL MODELS
THEORETICAL DATA
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
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Summary:Despite its long history, there are many fundamental issues concerning random packings of spheres that remain elusive, including a precise definition of random close packing (RCP). We argue that the current picture of RCP cannot be made mathematically precise and support this conclusion via a molecular dynamics study of hard spheres using the Lubachevsky-Stillinger compression algorithm. We suggest that this impasse can be broken by introducing the new concept of a maximally random jammed state, which can be made precise.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.84.2064