Geometric Frustration and Interparticle Gap Size Distributions in Ordered Hexagonal Polydisperse Disk Packs

dc.creatorSnowman, Daniel P.
dc.date2007-11-27
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T08:45:45Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T08:45:45Z
dc.descriptionThis work analyzes the distribution and size of interparticle gaps arising in an ensemble of hexagonal unit structures in the xy plane when packing disks with a Gaussian distribution of radii with mean (r) and standard deviation $Δr$. During the course of this investigation an equivalency is established between gaps arising in hexagonal unit structure packs and nine-ball billiard rack patterns. An analytic expression is derived for the probability distribution and location of interparticle gaps of magnitude $Γ$. Due to the number of variables and large number of possible arrangements, a Monte Carlo simulation has been conducted to complement and probe the analytic form for three very different systems: i) billiard balls with Billiard Congress of America (BCA) specifications, ii) US pennies with specifications of the US Mint, and iii) a hypothetical system with $r = 1.0 m$ and $Δr = 1x10^{-10}$ m corresponding to the scale of one atomic radius. In each case, probability density distributions of gap sizes have been calculated for those $Δr$ above, and also for 2$Δr$ and 0.5$Δr$, respectively. A general result is presented for the probability of a nonzero normalized ($\fracΓ{Δr}$) gap size arising, $P(Γ\geq αΔr)= 1-0.124α$, where $α$ is a constant $\leq 5.0$. This curious result reflects the phenomenon of geometric frustration; the inability of the system to simultaneously satisfy all geometric constraints required by a perfect-rack sans interparticle gaps.
dc.description1 Manuscript File and 14 figures have been included in a *.zip file
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0711.4381
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0711.4381
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/143062
dc.subjectStatistical Mechanics
dc.titleGeometric Frustration and Interparticle Gap Size Distributions in Ordered Hexagonal Polydisperse Disk Packs
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