EVENT DETAILS AND ABSTRACT

Title: Sand Science: from Description to Understanding
Speaker: Dr. A. Tkachenko
Speaker Info: U. Chicago
Brief Description:
Special Note:
Abstract:

Static and dynamic properties of granular materials are discussed, with the focus on the microscopic origin of the phenomenological picture. First, we address the problem of stress propagation through granular systems. We show that the frictionless packing is minimally connected (or isostatic), that makes it an anomalous solid from the point of view of elastic theory. In particular, this is shown to result in the hyperbolic rather than elliptic macroscopic equations for stress. Then, we discuss the origin of strong heterogeneities in the stress distribution on the single--particle scales, known as "force chains". We show their relevance for understanding the granular flows, and come up with an alternative to the dominant liquid--like paradigm of the granular motion.