Glass transition in granular media

Abstract

In the framework of schematic hard spheres lattice models for granular media\nwe investigate the phenomenon of the ``jamming transition''. In particular,\nusing Edwards' approach, by analytical calculations at a mean field level, we\nderive the system phase diagram and show that ``jamming'' corresponds to a\nphase transition from a ``fluid'' to a ``glassy'' phase, observed when\ncrystallization is avoided. Interestingly, the nature of such a ``glassy''\nphase turns out to be the same found in mean field models for glass formers.\n