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Is Random Close Packing of Spheres Well Defined?

Salvatore Torquato, Thomas M. Truskett, Pablo G. Debenedetti

cond-mat.stat-mecharXiv:cond-mat/0003416

Abstract

Despite its long history, there are many fundamental issues concerning random packings of spheres that remain elusive, including a precise definition of random close packing (RCP). We argue that the current picture of RCP cannot be made mathematically precise and support this conclusion via a molecular dynamics study of hard spheres using the Lubachevsky-Stillinger compression algorithm. We suggest that this impasse can be broken by introducing the new concept of a maximally random jammed state, which can be made precise.

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