Comment on "Jamming at zero temperature and zero applied stress: The epitome of disorder"

TL;DR

This paper critically examines the claims of a previous study on the jamming point J, questioning their definitions and discussing the relation to other packing algorithms, thereby clarifying the concept of maximally random jammed states.

Contribution

It provides a critical analysis of the definitions and claims regarding the jamming point J and compares the algorithm with other packing methods in the literature.

Findings

Identifies difficulties with the original definitions of jammed and random states.

Questions the association of point J with maximally random jammed states.

Discusses the relation of the algorithm to other packing algorithms.

Abstract

O'Hern, Silbert, Liu and Nagel [Phys. Rev. E. 68, 011306 (2003)] (OSLN) claim that a special point $J$ of a "jamming phase diagram" (in density, temperature, stress space) is related to random close packing of hard spheres, and that it represents, for their suggested definitions of jammed and random, the recently introduced maximally random jammed state. We point out several difficulties with their definitions and question some of their claims. Furthermore, we discuss the connections between their algorithm and other hard-sphere packing algorithms in the literature.