As a fragile construction, a granular pile is very sensitive to minute
external perturbations. In particular, it is now well established that a
granular assembly is sensitive to variations of temperature. Such variations
can produce localized rearrangements as well as global static avalanches inside
a pile. In this review, we sum up the various observations that have been made
concerning the effect of temperature on a granular assembly. In particular, we
dwell on the way controlled variations of temperature have been employed to
generate the compaction of a granular pile. After laying emphasis on the key
features of this compaction process, we compare it to the classic
vibration-induced compaction. Finally, we also review other granular systems in
a large sense, from microscopic (jammed multilamellar vesicles) to macroscopic
scales (stone heave phenomenon linked to freezing and thawing of soils) for
which periodic variations of temperature could play a key role in the dynamics
at stake.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, Commentary from the reviewer available in
Papers in Physic
