Statistical Mechanics of Granular Media
Imagine a glass filled with water next to a glass filled with
sand. They have some similarities, eg. by tilting each glass, you can pour its content like a liquid. Also both substances are
comprised of a large number of small entities: 1023 H2O molecules
resp. 108 sand grains. And in both cases we are not at all
interested in the microscopic dynamics of the individual particles;
we want the power of an averaged, statistical description using
macroscopic state variables like pressure, temperature or volume.
For atoms and molecules, like H2O, we know that such a statistical mechanics
description works very well. But granular particles are macroscopic
entities, which has far reaching consequences: the classical thermal energy is
irrelevant to their dynamics, their internal degrees of freedom mean
that collisions are dissipative and contacts are frictional.
So the questions, if there can be statistical mechanics for granular
media, and if yes what classical concepts will hold and what new
ideas will be needed, are still wide open. In collaboration with
researchers all-around the world we try to explore this unknown
territory. Here in Goettingen we use the following
Research Map
