Packing structure of a two-dimensional granular system through the jamming transition

TL;DR

This study investigates the structural properties of a two-dimensional granular system during the jamming transition, revealing similarities to glass-forming liquids and identifying structural signatures of jamming through Voronoi analysis and pair correlation functions.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel experimental approach using swelling particles and analyzes the Voronoi structure to identify universal features and structural signatures of the jamming transition.

Findings

Voronoi area distribution is universal across jamming and glass systems

Structural signature of jamming identified via pair correlation functions

Local configurations resemble those of glass-forming liquids

Abstract

We have performed a novel experiment on granular packs composed of automatically swelling particles. By analyzing the Voronoi structure of packs going through the jamming transition, we show that the local configuration of a jamming pack is strikingly similar to that of a glass-forming liquid, both in terms of their universal area distribution and the process of defect annealing. Furthermore, we demonstrate that an unambiguous structural signature of the jamming transition can be obtained from the pair correlation functions of a pack. Our study provides insights into the structural properties of general jamming systems.