Dense packing crystal structures of physical tetrahedra
Abstract
We present a method for discovering dense packings of general convex hard particles and apply it to study the dense packing behavior of a one-parameter family of particles with tetrahedral symmetry representing a deformation of the ideal mathematical tetrahedron into a less ideal, physical, tetrahedron and all the way to the sphere. Thus, we also connect the two well studied problems of sphere packing and tetrahedron packing on a single axis. Our numerical results uncover a rich optimal-packing behavior, compared to that of other continuous families of particles previously studied. We present four structures as candidates for the optimal packing at different values of the parameter, providing an atlas of crystal structures which might be observed in systems of nano-particles with tetrahedral symmetry.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1011.4034,
title = {Dense packing crystal structures of physical tetrahedra},
author = {Yoav Kallus and Veit Elser},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1011.4034},
year = {2013}
}