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Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2064–2067 (2000)

Is Random Close Packing of Spheres Well Defined?

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S. Torquato1,*, T. M. Truskett2, and P. G. Debenedetti2
1Department of Chemistry and Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
2Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

Received 1 November 1999; published in the issue dated 6 March 2000

Despite its long history, there are many fundamental issues concerning random packings of spheres that remain elusive, including a precise definition of random close packing (RCP). We argue that the current picture of RCP cannot be made mathematically precise and support this conclusion via a molecular dynamics study of hard spheres using the Lubachevsky-Stillinger compression algorithm. We suggest that this impasse can be broken by introducing the new concept of a maximally random jammed state, which can be made precise.

© 2000 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2064
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2064
PACS:
05.20.Jj, 61.20.-p

*Corresponding author.Electronic address: torquato@matter.princeton.edu.

 
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