2000/10/27 by Daniel C. Hong, Paul V. Quinn, Stefan Luding · 3 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Competition (biology) #Computer science #Condensation #Condensed matter physics #Conductivity #Crossover #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Hard spheres #Material Dynamics and Properties #Materials science #Nut #Percolation (cognitive psychology) #Percolation theory #Percolation threshold #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Statistical physics #Theoretical and Computational Physics #Thermodynamics #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.86.3423
9 pages which includes 7 figures
arxiv created 2000/10/27 · openalex publication_date 2001/04/09 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
In the Brazil nut problem (BNP), hard spheres with larger diameters rise to the top. There are various explanations (percolation, reorganization, convection), but a broad understanding or control of this effect is by no means achieved. A theory is presented for the crossover from BNP to the reverse Brazil nut problem based on a competition between the percolation effect and the condensation of hard spheres. The crossover condition is determined, and theoretical predictions are compared to molecular dynamics simulations in two and three dimensions.