2006/10/30 by Mark D. Shattuck, Shattuck, M. D., M. D. Shattuck
Engineering · Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #FOS: Physical sciences #Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Material Dynamics and Properties #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0610839
arxiv created 2006/10/30 · openalex publication_date 2006/10/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present experimental evidence for a first-order freezing/melting phase transition in a nonequilibrium system -- an oscillated two-dimensional isobaric granular fluid. The steady-state transition occurs between a gas and a crystal and is characterized by a discontinuous change in both density and temperature. It is suppressed if the number of particles is incommensurate with the cell size, shows rate-dependent hysteresis, and obeys the Lindemann criterion for melting. Further, the measured equation of state both above and below the phase transition compares well with theory.