Abstract
AIP Workshop on Granular Matter, Regio Calabria (2010) We review a recently proposed theory of random packings. We describe the
volume fluctuations in jammed matter through a volume function, amenable to
analytical and numerical calculations. We combine an extended statistical
mechanics approach 'a la Edwards' (where the role traditionally played by the
energy and temperature in thermal systems is substituted by the volume and
compactivity) with a constraint on mechanical stability imposed by the
isostatic condition. We show how such approaches can bring results that can be
compared to experiments and allow for an exploitation of the statistical
mechanics framework. The key result is the use of a relation between the local
Voronoi volume of the constituent grains and the number of neighbors in contact
that permits a simple combination of the two approaches to develop a theory of
random packings. We predict the density of random loose packing (RLP) and
random close packing (RCP) in close agreement with experiments and develop a
phase diagram of jammed matter that provides a unifying view of the disordered
hard sphere packing problem and further shedding light on a diverse spectrum of
data, including the RLP state. Theoretical results are well reproduced by
numerical simulations that confirm the essential role played by friction in
determining both the RLP and RCP limits. Finally we present an extended
discussion on the existence of geometrical and mechanical coordination numbers
and how to measure both quantities in experiments and computer simulations.