Abstract
The interface separating a liquid from its vapor phase is diffuse; the composition varies continuously from one phase to the other over a finite length. Recent experiments on dynamic jamming fronts in two dimensions [Waitukaitis et al., Europhys. Lett. 102, 44001 (2013)] identified a diffuse interface between jammed and unjammed disks. In both cases, the thickness of the interface diverges as a critical transition is approached. We investigate the generality of this behavior using a third system: A model of cyclically sheared non-Brownian suspensions. As we sediment the particles toward a boundary, we observe a diffuse traveling front that marks the interface between irreversible and reversible phases. We argue that the front width is linked to a diverging correlation length scale in the bulk, which we probe by studying avalanches near criticality. Our results show how diffuse interfaces may arise generally when an incompressible phase is brought to a critical point.
Highlights
Whereas Young and Laplace conceived of fluid interfaces as having zero thickness, it is understood that physical properties vary smoothly through them [1]
This system exhibits a dynamically reversible phase where particle trajectories retrace themselves in each cycle and an irreversible phase where particle collisions lead to diffusive behavior [4,5,8,9,10,11]
Our results show strong similarities to dynamic jamming fronts [19,20], where an interface between two nonequilibrium phases was identified with analogous properties [21]
Summary
Whereas Young and Laplace conceived of fluid interfaces as having zero thickness, it is understood that physical properties vary smoothly through them [1]. Cyclically sheared nonBrownian suspensions have emerged as a testbed for studying nonequilibrium phase transitions [4,5,6,7] This system exhibits a dynamically reversible phase where particle trajectories retrace themselves in each cycle and an irreversible phase where particle collisions lead to diffusive behavior [4,5,8,9,10,11]. We study the random organization of particles that are driven toward a hard boundary using a simplified model of cyclically sheared suspensions [17,18] This setup produces a well-defined interface between two bulk phases: A dense irreversible phase that builds up from the bottom wall and a reversible sinking phase [Fig. 1(b)]. Compared over the vertical length scale π d2N/(4φcW ) [18], which is the height of a bed of particles of density φc
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