Non-affine response: jammed packings versus spring networks

We compare the elastic response of spring networks whose contact geometry is derived from real packings of frictionless discs, to networks obtained by randomly cutting bonds in a highly connected network derived from a well-compressed packing. We find that the shear response of packing-derived networks, and both the shear and compression response of randomly cut networks, are all similar: the elastic moduli vanish linearly near jamming, and distributions characterizing the local geometry of the response scale with distance to jamming. Compression of packing-derived networks is exceptional: the elastic modulus remains constant and the geometrical distributions do not exhibit simple scaling. We conclude that the compression response of jammed packings is anomalous, rather than the shear response.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to ep

Vibrations in materials with granularity

This thesis concerns the vibrational properties of different classical disordered condensed matter systems. In the first part we focus on materials that exhibit a rigidity transition as their density is increased. By introducing a new method into the field, we were able to look into the localization behavior of vibrational modes of jammed packings of soft spherical particles, both in the localized regime where the localization length is much less and in the regime where it is grater than the linear system size. We also analyze the nature of vibrational modes of jammed packings of soft elliptical particles, where we uncover the change of the structure of the spectrum, compared to the simplest model of sphere packings, due to the rotational degrees of freedom of the particles. In the second part of this thesis we explore the localization properties of collective modes and response to uniform driving of bubble clouds. We find that the response is often very different from that of a typical mode because the frequency response of each mode is sufficiently wide that many modes are excited when the cloud is driven by an ultrasound.UBL - phd migration 201

Excitations of Ellipsoid Packings near Jamming

We study the vibrational modes of three-dimensional jammed packings of soft ellipsoids of revolution as a function of particle aspect ratio $\epsilon$ and packing fraction. At the jamming transition for ellipsoids, as distinct from the idealized case using spheres where $\epsilon = 1$, there are many unconstrained and non-trivial rotational degrees of freedom. These constitute a set of zero-frequency modes that are gradually mobilized into a new rotational band as $|\epsilon - 1|$ increases. Quite surprisingly, as this new band is separated from zero frequency by a gap, and lies below the onset frequency for translational vibrations, $\omega^*$, the presence of these new degrees of freedom leaves unaltered the basic scenario that the translational spectrum is determined only by the average contact number. Indeed, $\omega^*$ depends solely on coordination as it does for compressed packings of spheres. We also discuss the regime of large $|\epsilon - 1|$, where the two bands merge.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Critical jamming of frictional grains in the generalized isostaticity picture

While frictionless spheres at jamming are isostatic, frictional spheres at jamming are not. As a result, frictional spheres near jamming do not necessarily exhibit an excess of soft modes. However, a generalized form of isostaticity can be introduced if fully mobilized contacts at the Coulomb friction threshold are considered as slipping contacts. We show here that, in this framework, the vibrational density of states (DOS) of frictional discs exhibits a plateau when the generalized isostaticity line is approached. The crossover frequency to elastic behavior scales linearly with the distance from this line. Moreover, we show that the frictionless limit, which appears singular when fully mobilized contacts are treated elastically, becomes smooth when fully mobilized contacts are allowed to slip.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Universality in the jamming limit for elongated hard particles in one dimension

We study thermodynamics properties of a one dimensional gas of hard elongated particles. The particle centers are restricted to a line, while they can rotate in two-dimensional space. Correlations between orientations of the objects are studied (by transfer matrix method) as a function of density and aspect ratio. The behavior in the extreme high-density (jamming) limit is described by a few universality classes depending on the object's shape. In particular, there is a diverging correlation length when the contact point of adjacent objects is far from the line along which their centers move, as for needles and rectangles.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 4 figure

Localization behavior of vibrational modes in granular packings

We study the localization of vibrational modes of frictionless granular media. We introduce a new method, motivated by earlier work on non-Hermitian quantum problems, which works well both in the localized regime where the localization length $\xi$ is much less than the linear size $L$ and in the regime $\xi$ grater or of order $L$ when modes are extended throughout our finite system. Our very lowest frequency modes show "quasi-localized" resonances away from the jamming point; the spatial extent of these regions increases as the jamming point is approached, as expected theoretically. Throughout the remaining frequency range, our data show no signature of the nearness of the jamming point and collapse well when properly rescaled with the system size. Using Random Matrix Theory we derive the scaling relation $\xi$ ~ $L^{d/2}$ for the regime $\xi$ >> $L$ in $d$ dimensions.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Origin of Corrections to Mean-field at the Onset of Unjamming

We present a detailed analysis of the unjamming transition in 2D frictionless disk packings using a static correlation function that has been widely used to study disordered systems. We show that this point-to-set (PTS) correlation function exhibits a dominant length scale that diverges as the unjamming transition is approached through decompression. In addition, we identify deviations from meanfield predictions, and present detailed analysis of the origin of non-meanfield behavior. A mean-field bulk-surface argument is reviewed. Corrections to this argument are identified, which lead to a change in the functional form of the critical PTS boundary size. An entropic description of the origin of the correlations is presented, and simple rigidity assumptions are shown to predict the functional form of the critical PTS boundary size as a function of the pressure

Multi-step self-guided pathways for shape-changing metamaterials

Multi-step pathways, constituted of a sequence of reconfigurations, are central to a wide variety of natural and man-made systems. Such pathways autonomously execute in self-guided processes such as protein folding and self-assembly, but require external control in macroscopic mechanical systems, provided by, e.g., actuators in robotics or manual folding in origami. Here we introduce shape-changing mechanical metamaterials, that exhibit self-guided multi-step pathways in response to global uniform compression. Their design combines strongly nonlinear mechanical elements with a multimodal architecture that allows for a sequence of topological reconfigurations, i.e., modifications of the topology caused by the formation of internal self-contacts. We realized such metamaterials by digital manufacturing, and show that the pathway and final configuration can be controlled by rational design of the nonlinear mechanical elements. We furthermore demonstrate that self-contacts suppress pathway errors. Finally, we demonstrate how hierarchical architectures allow to extend the number of distinct reconfiguration steps. Our work establishes general principles for designing mechanical pathways, opening new avenues for self-folding media, pluripotent materials, and pliable devices in, e.g., stretchable electronics and soft robotics.Comment: 16 pages, 3 main figures, 10 extended data figures. See https://youtu.be/8m1QfkMFL0I for an explanatory vide

Vibrations in materials with granularity

This thesis concerns the vibrational properties of different classical disordered condensed matter systems. In the first part we focus on materials that exhibit a rigidity transition as their density is increased. By introducing a new method into the field, we were able to look into the localization behavior of vibrational modes of jammed packings of soft spherical particles, both in the localized regime where the localization length is much less and in the regime where it is grater than the linear system size. We also analyze the nature of vibrational modes of jammed packings of soft elliptical particles, where we uncover the change of the structure of the spectrum, compared to the simplest model of sphere packings, due to the rotational degrees of freedom of the particles. In the second part of this thesis we explore the localization properties of collective modes and response to uniform driving of bubble clouds. We find that the response is often very different from that of a typical mode because the frequency response of each mode is sufficiently wide that many modes are excited when the cloud is driven by an ultrasound

Non-affine response: Jammed packings vs. spring networks

We compare the elastic response of spring networks whose contact geometry is derived from real packings of frictionless discs, to networks obtained by randomly cutting bonds in a highly connected network derived from a well-compressed packing. We find that the shear response of packing-derived networks, and both the shear and compression response of randomly cut networks, are all similar: the elastic moduli vanish linearly near jamming, and distributions characterizing the local geometry of the response scale with distance to jamming. Compression of packing-derived networks is exceptional: the elastic modulus remains constant and the geometrical distributions do not exhibit simple scaling. We conclude that the compression response of jammed packings is anomalous, rather than the shear response