2003/12/31 by Anita Mehta, G. C. Barker, G C Barker +2 · 1 citation
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Bridge (graph theory) #Cooperativity #Distribution (mathematics) #Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics #Linear relationship #Material Dynamics and Properties #Monte Carlo method #Probability distribution #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1742-5468/2004/10/p10014
published as JSTAT (2004) P10014 · 15 pages, 10 figures. Minor changes and updates
openalex publication_date 2004/10/29 · arxiv created 2004/11/02 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Bridges form dynamically in granular media as a result of spatiotemporal inhomogeneities. We classify bridges as linear and complex, and analyse their geometrical characteristics. In particular, we find that the length distribution of linear bridges is exponential. We then turn to the analysis of the orientational distribution of linear bridges and find that, in three dimensions, they are vertically diffusive but horizontally superdiffusive ; thus, when they exist, long linear bridges form 'domes'. Our results are in good accord with Monte Carlo simulations of bridge structure; we make predictions for quantities that are experimentally accessible, and suggest that bridges are very closely related to force chains.