Equivalence between random close packing in granular matter and freezing in the hard sphere model

Abstract

The notion of random close packings of a bulk static collection of ball bearings or sand grains was introduced in the 1960's by G.D. Scott and J.D. Bernal. There have been numerous attempts to understand the packings. We give a short argument, based on recent experiments and simulations, which explains the packings in purely geometric terms.