Related papers: Structural transition of force chains observed by …
We analyze the structure of fluctuations near critical points and spinodals in mean-field and near-mean-field systems. Unlike systems that are non-mean-field, for which a fluctuation can be represented by a single cluster in a properly…
We revisit the problem of the stress distribution in a frictional sandpile under gravity, equipped with a new numerical model of granular assemblies with both normal and tangential (frictional) inter-granular forces. Numerical simulations…
This paper explores the connection between dynamical system properties and statistical physics of ensembles of such systems. Simple models are used to give novel phase transitions; particularly for finite N particle systems with many…
The shock wave structure in a one-dimensional lattice (e.g. granular chain) with a power law dependence of force on displacement between particles with viscous dissipation is considered and compared to the corresponding long wave…
Dense granular flows are well described by several continuum models, however, their internal dynamics remain elusive. This study explores the contact force distributions in simulated steady and homogenous shear flows. Results demonstrate…
It is well known that energy dissipation and finite size can deeply affect the dynamics of granular matter, often making usual hydrodynamic approaches problematic. Here we report on the experi-mental investigation of a small model system,…
We investigate the sliding of objects on an inclined granular surface close to the avalanche threshold. Our experiments show that the stability is driven by the surface deformations. Heavy objects generate footprint-like deformations which…
The mechanical strength and flow of granular materials can depend strongly on the shapes of individual grains. We report quantitative results obtained from photoelasticimetry experiments on locally loaded, quasi-two-dimensional granular…
The way granular materials response to an applied shear stress is of the utmost relevance to both human activities and natural environment. One of the their most intriguing and less understood behavior, is the stick-instability, whose most…
Stochastic chains represent a wide and key variety of phenomena in many branches of science within the context of Information Theory and Thermodynamics. They are typically approached by a sequence of independent events or by a memoryless…
The local and global dynamics of a sheared granular medium are studied in a model experiment as a function of several macroscopic parameters. We observe that by changing the shear rate or the loading stiffness, the system crackles, with…
Complex physical dynamics can often be modeled as a Markov jump process between mesoscopic configurations. When jumps between mesoscopic states are mediated by thermodynamic reservoirs, the time-irreversibility of the jump process is a…
Nanoscale materials display enhanced strength and toughness but also larger fluctuations and more pronounced size effects with respect to their macroscopic counterparts. Here we study the system size-dependence of the failure strength…
A correlation is established between the macro-scale friction regimes of metals and a transition between two dominant atomistic mechanisms of deformation. Metals tend to exhibit bi-stable friction behavior -- low and converging or high and…
The dynamics of weak vs. strong first order phase transitions is investigated numerically for 2+1 dimensional scalar field models. It is argued that the change from a weak to a strong transition is itself a (second order) phase transition,…
We present a class of models in which the coupling of the photon to an ultralight scalar field that has a time-dependent vacuum expectation value causes the fine structure constant to oscillate in time. The scalar field is assumed to…
Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study frictional slip and its influence on energy dissipation and momentum transfer at atomically smooth solid/water interfaces. By modifying surface chemistry, we investigate the…
A system far from equilibrium is characterized by unconventional many-body dynamical effects, which can lead to anomalous density fluctuations and mass transport. Interestingly, these structural and dynamic features often emerge…
The effect of different possible kinds of motion of the exciting walls (cyclic, random, ...) is investigated on the dynamics of a granular dissipative gas. It is shown that the real distribution of speed of the wall which interact with the…
his study investigates the modifications of the thermal spectrum, at low frequency, induced by an external damping on a system in heat contact with internal fluctuating impurities. Those impurities can move among locations and their…