Simple and efficient methods for local structural analysis in polydisperse hard disk systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces simple, efficient methods for analyzing local structures in nonequilibrium, inhomogeneous, and polydisperse hard disk systems, addressing limitations of traditional techniques.

Contribution

The paper presents novel methods tailored for complex, real-world particle systems, improving local structure analysis beyond conventional approaches.

Findings

Methods effectively analyze local structures in polydisperse systems

Overcomes limitations of fixed-distance cutoff and Voronoi techniques

Demonstrates applications in nonequilibrium systems

Abstract

In nonequilibrium statistical physics, quantifying the nearest (and higher-order) neighbors and free volumes of particles in many-body systems is crucial to elucidating the origin of macroscopic collective phenomena, such as glass/granular jamming transitions and various aspects of the behavior of active matter. However, conventional techniques (based on a fixed-distance cutoff or the Voronoi construction) have mainly been applied to equilibrated, homogeneous, and monodisperse particle systems. In this paper, we implement simple and efficient methods for local structure analysis in nonequilibrium, inhomogeneous, and polydisperse hard disk systems. We show how these novel methods can overcome the difficulties encountered by conventional techniques, as well as demonstrating some applications.