Jamming III: Characterizing Randomness via the Entropy of Jammed Matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates the entropy and randomness in jammed granular materials using theoretical models and simulations, revealing differences between loose and close packings and exploring the full density range from random loose to crystalline packings.

Contribution

It introduces a mesoscopic ensemble approach to predict the entropy of jammed matter and compares analytical results with simulations, advancing understanding of disorder in granular packings.

Findings

Entropy vanishes at random close packing (RCP).

Random loose packings are more disordered than close packings.

Finite entropy persists at RCP in simulations.

Abstract

The nature of randomness in disordered packings of frictional and frictionless spheres is investigated using theory and simulations of identical spherical grains. The entropy of the packings is defined through the force and volume ensemble of jammed matter and shown difficult to calculate analytically. A mesoscopic ensemble of isostatic states is then utilized in an effort to predict the entropy through the defnition of a volume function dependent on the coordination number. Equations of state are obtained relating entropy, volume fraction and compactivity characterizing the different states of jammed matter, and elucidating the phase diagram for jammed granular matter. Analytical calculations are compared to numerical simulations using volume fluctuation analysis and graph theoretical methods, with reasonable agreement. The entropy of the jammed system reveals that the random loose packings are more disordered than random close packings, allowing for an unambiguous interpretation of both limits. Ensemble calculations show that the entropy vanishes at random close packing (RCP), while numerical simulations show that a finite entropy remains in the microscopic states at RCP. The notion of a negative compactivity, that explores states with volume fractions below those achievable by existing simulation protocols, is also explored, expanding the equations of state. We discuss possible extensions to the present mesoscopic approach describing packings from RLP to RCP to the ordered branch of the equation of state in an effort to understand the entropy of jammed matter in the full range of densities from RLP to FCC.