Glass transition in granular media

TL;DR

This paper models the jamming transition in granular media as a phase change from fluid to glassy state using mean field analysis, revealing similarities with glass-forming systems.

Contribution

It introduces a mean field analytical framework for understanding jamming in granular media, connecting it to glass transition phenomena.

Findings

Jamming corresponds to a phase transition from fluid to glassy state.

The glassy phase in granular media shares characteristics with glass formers.

Analytical phase diagram derived for granular media models.

Abstract

In the framework of schematic hard spheres lattice models for granular media we investigate the phenomenon of the ``jamming transition''. In particular, using Edwards' approach, by analytical calculations at a mean field level, we derive the system phase diagram and show that ``jamming'' corresponds to a phase transition from a ``fluid'' to a ``glassy'' phase, observed when crystallization is avoided. Interestingly, the nature of such a ``glassy'' phase turns out to be the same found in mean field models for glass formers.