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Dynamics of the breakdown of granular clusters

Francois Coppex·Michel Droz·Adam Lipowski
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Abstract

Recently van der Meer et al. studied the breakdown of a granular cluster (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 88}, 174302 (2002)). We reexamine this problem using an urn model, which takes into account fluctuations and finite-size effects. General arguments are given for the absence of a continuous transition when the number of urns (compartments) is greater than two. Monte Carlo simulations show that the lifetime of a cluster $τ$ diverges at the limits of stability as $τ\sim N^{1/3}$, where $N$ is the number of balls. After the breakdown, depending on the dynamical rules of our urn model, either normal or anomalous diffusion of the cluster takes place.

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Francois Coppex, Michel Droz, Adam Lipowski. 2002-05-03. Dynamics of the breakdown of granular clusters. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.66.011305

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