Diffusion in agitated frictional granular matter near the jamming transition.

Abstract

We study agitated frictional disks in two dimensions with the aim of developing a scaling theory for their diffusion over time. As a function of the area fraction ϕ and mean-square velocity fluctuations 〈v^{2}〉 the mean-square displacement of the disks 〈d^{2}〉 spans four to five orders of magnitude. The motion evolves from a subdiffusive form to a complex diffusive behavior at long times. The statistics of 〈d^{n}〉 at all times are multiscaling, since the probability distribution function (PDF) of displacements has very broad wings. Even where a diffusion constant can be identified it is a complex function of ϕ and 〈v^{2}〉. By identifying the relevant length and time scales and their interdependence one can rescale the data for the mean-square displacement and the PDF of displacements into collapsed scaling functions for all ϕ and 〈v^{2}〉. These scaling functions provide a predictive tool, allowing one to infer from one set of measurements (at a given ϕ and 〈v^{2}〉) what are the expected results at any value of ϕ and 〈v^{2}〉 within the scaling range.