Nearest-neighbor statistics for packings of hard spheres and disks

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

276 Scopus citations

Abstract

The probability of finding a nearest neighbor at some radial distance from a given particle in a system of interacting particles is of fundamental importance in a host of fields in the physical as well as biological sciences. A procedure is developed to obtain analytical expressions for nearest-neighbor probability functions for random isotropic packings of hard D-dimensional spheres that are accurate for all densities, i.e., up to the random close-packing fraction. Using these results, the mean nearest-neighbor distance λ as a function of the packing fraction is computed for such many-body systems and compared to rigorous bounds on λ derived here. Our theoretical results are found to be in excellent agreement with available computer-simulation data.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3170-3182
Number of pages13
JournalPhysical Review E
Volume51
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1995

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Nearest-neighbor statistics for packings of hard spheres and disks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this