Jamming at Zero Temperature, Zero Friction, and Finite Applied Shear Stress

Abstract

Shear stress, as temperature, induces particle motion, and affects the jamming transition from a fluid to a disordered solid state. Here, we show that at finite shear stress, the jamming transition is characterized by the presence of hysteresis, as in a given range of control parameters a flowing or a jammed state can be found, depending on whether the system is prepared coming from the fluid or the jammed phase. At small shear stress, where the hysteresis is negligible, the jamming transition has a mixed first-order second-order character close to that found at the glass transition of thermal systems, with discontinuities in the asymptotic values of two time quantities such as the self-intermediate scattering function.