Phase diagram and structural diversity of the densest binary sphere packings

Adam B. Hopkins; Yang Jiao; Frank H. Stillinger; Salvatore Torquato

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.107.125501

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arXiv · 1108.2210

Phase diagram and structural diversity of the densest binary sphere packings

Adam B. Hopkins·Yang Jiao·Frank H. Stillinger·Salvatore Torquato

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Abstract

The densest binary sphere packings have historically been very difficult to determine. The only rigorously known packings in the alpha-x plane of sphere radius ratio alpha and relative concentration x are at the Kepler limit alpha = 1, where packings are monodisperse. Utilizing an implementation of the Torquato-Jiao sphere-packing algorithm [S. Torquato and Y. Jiao, Phys. Rev. E 82, 061302 (2010)], we present the most comprehensive determination to date of the phase diagram in (alpha,x) for the densest binary sphere packings. Unexpectedly, we find many distinct new densest packings.

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Adam B. Hopkins, Yang Jiao, Frank H. Stillinger, Salvatore Torquato. 2011-08-10. Phase diagram and structural diversity of the densest binary sphere packings. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.107.125501

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