Inversion of Chladni patterns by tuning the vibrational acceleration

Inverse Chladni patterns, i.e., grains collecting at the antinodes of a resonating plate, are traditionally believed to occur only when the particles are small enough to be carried along by the ambient air. We now show--theoretically and numerically--that air currents are not the only mechanism leading to inverse patterns: When the acceleration of the resonating plate does not exceed g , particles will always roll to the antinodes, irrespective of their size, even in the absence of air. We also explain why this effect has hitherto escaped detection in standard Chladni experiments.