Diagnosing hyperuniformity in two-dimensional, disordered, jammed packings of soft spheres

Remi Dreyfus, Ye Xu, Tim Still, L. A. Hough, A. G. Yodh, Salvatore Torquato

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

86 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hyperuniformity characterizes a state of matter for which (scaled) density fluctuations diminish towards zero at the largest length scales. However, the task of determining whether or not an image of an experimental system is hyperuniform is experimentally challenging due to finite-resolution, noise, and sample-size effects that influence characterization measurements. Here we explore these issues, employing video optical microscopy to study hyperuniformity phenomena in disordered two-dimensional jammed packings of soft spheres. Using a combination of experiment and simulation we characterize the possible adverse effects of particle polydispersity, image noise, and finite-size effects on the assignment of hyperuniformity, and we develop a methodology that permits improved diagnosis of hyperuniformity from real-space measurements. The key to this improvement is a simple packing reconstruction algorithm that incorporates particle polydispersity to minimize the free volume. In addition, simulations show that hyperuniformity in finite-sized samples can be ascertained more accurately in direct space than in reciprocal space. Finally, our experimental colloidal packings of soft polymeric spheres are shown to be effectively hyperuniform.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number012302
JournalPhysical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
Volume91
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Statistics and Probability

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