2003/02/25 by P. L. Krapivsky, E. Ben-Naim, E. Ben‐Naim · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma #Particle Dynamics in Fluid Flows #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.68.021102
published as Phys. Rev. E 68, 021102 (2003) · 7 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2003/02/25 · openalex publication_date 2003/08/07 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We investigate the kinetics of nonlinear collision-induced fragmentation. We obtain the fragment mass distribution analytically by utilizing its traveling wave behavior. The system undergoes a shattering transition in which a finite fraction of the mass is lost to infinitesimal fragments (dust). The nature of the shattering transition depends on the fragmentation process. When the larger of the two colliding fragments splits, the transition is discontinuous and the entire mass is transformed into dust at the transition point. When the smaller fragment splits, the transition is continuous with the dust gaining mass steadily on the account of the fragments. At the transition point, the fragment mass distribution diverges algebraically for small masses, c(m) approximately m(-alpha), with alpha=1.201 91 em leader.