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Reverse Brazil nut problem: competition between percolation and condensation
D C Hong1, P V Quinn, S Luding
1Physics, Lewis Laboratory, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|May 1, 2001
Abstract:
In the Brazil nut problem (BNP), hard spheres with larger diameters rise to the top. There are various explanations (percolation, reorganization, convection), but a broad understanding or control of this effect is by no means achieved. A theory is presented for the crossover from BNP to the reverse Brazil nut problem based on a competition between the percolation effect and the condensation of hard spheres. The crossover condition is determined, and theoretical predictions are compared to molecular dynamics simulations in two and three dimensions.