English

Explicit Analytical Solution for Random Close Packing in d=2 and d=3

Soft Condensed Matter 2022-01-13 v1 Disordered Systems and Neural Networks Materials Science Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

We present an analytical derivation of the volume fractions for random close packing (RCP) in both d=3d=3 and d=2d=2, based on the same methodology. Using suitably modified nearest neigbhour statistics for hard spheres, we obtain ϕRCP=0.65896\phi_{\mathrm{RCP}}=0.65896 in d=3d=3 and ϕRCP=0.88648\phi_{\mathrm{RCP}}=0.88648 in d=2d=2. These values are well within the interval of values reported in the literature using different methods (experiments and numerical simulations) and protocols. This order-agnostic derivation suggests some considerations related to the nature of RCP: (i) RCP corresponds to the onset of mechanical rigidity where the finite shear modulus emerges, (ii) the onset of mechanical rigidity marks the maximally random jammmed state and dictates ϕRCP\phi_{\mathrm{RCP}} via the coordination number zz, (iii) disordered packings with ϕ>ϕRCP\phi>\phi_{\mathrm{RCP}} are possible at the expense of creating some order, and z=12z=12 at the FCC limit acts as a boundary condition.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2201.04541,
  title  = {Explicit Analytical Solution for Random Close Packing in d=2 and d=3},
  author = {Alessio Zaccone},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2201.04541},
  year   = {2022}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-24T08:47:52.663Z