8,221 research outputs found
How dense can one pack spheres of arbitrary size distribution?
We present the first systematic algorithm to estimate the maximum packing
density of spheres when the grain sizes are drawn from an arbitrary size
distribution. With an Apollonian filling rule, we implement our technique for
disks in 2d and spheres in 3d. As expected, the densest packing is achieved
with power-law size distributions. We also test the method on homogeneous and
on empirical real distributions, and we propose a scheme to obtain
experimentally accessible distributions of grain sizes with low porosity. Our
method should be helpful in the development of ultra-strong ceramics and high
performance concrete.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Invasion Percolation Between two Sites
We investigate the process of invasion percolation between two sites
(injection and extraction sites) separated by a distance r in two-dimensional
lattices of size L. Our results for the non-trapping invasion percolation model
indicate that the statistics of the mass of invaded clusters is significantly
dependent on the local occupation probability (pressure) Pe at the extraction
site. For Pe=0, we show that the mass distribution of invaded clusters P(M)
follows a power-law P(M) ~ M^{-\alpha} for intermediate values of the mass M,
with an exponent \alpha=1.39. When the local pressure is set to Pe=Pc, where Pc
corresponds to the site percolation threshold of the lattice topology, the
distribution P(M) still displays a scaling region, but with an exponent
\alpha=1.02. This last behavior is consistent with previous results for the
cluster statistics in standard percolation. In spite of these discrepancies,
the results of our simulations indicate that the fractal dimension of the
invaded cluster does not depends significantly on the local pressure Pe and it
is consistent with the fractal dimension values reported for standard invasion
percolation. Finally, we perform extensive numerical simulations to determine
the effect of the lattice borders on the statistics of the invaded clusters and
also to characterize the self-organized critical behavior of the invasion
percolation process.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures, submited for PR
Breathing synchronization in interconnected networks
Global synchronization in a complex network of oscillators emerges from the
interplay between its topology and the dynamics of the pairwise interactions
among its numerous components. When oscillators are spatially separated,
however, a time delay appears in the interaction which might obstruct
synchronization. Here we study the synchronization properties of interconnected
networks of oscillators with a time delay between networks and analyze the
dynamics as a function of the couplings and communication lag. We discover a
new breathing synchronization regime, where two groups appear in each network
synchronized at different frequencies. Each group has a counterpart in the
opposite network, one group is in phase and the other in anti-phase with their
counterpart. For strong couplings, instead, networks are internally
synchronized but a phase shift between them might occur. The implications of
our findings on several socio-technical and biological systems are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures + 3 pages of Supplemental Materia
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