title: Size-topology relations in packings of grains, emulsions, foams, and biological cells.
abstract: Particulate packings in 3D are used to study the effects of compression and polydispersity on the geometry of the tiling in these systems. We find that the dependence of the neighbor number on cell size is quasilinear in the monodisperse case and becomes nonlinear above a threshold polydispersity, independent of the method of creation of the tiling. These size-topology relations can be described by a simple analytical theory, which quantifies the effects of positional disorder in the monodisperse case and those of size disorder in the polydisperse case and is applicable in two and three dimensions. The theory thus gives a unifying framework for a wide range of amorphous systems, ranging from biological tissues, foams, and bidisperse disks to compressed emulsions and granular matter.
authors.affiliation: New York University, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, 251 Mercer Street, New York, New York 10012, USA.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Newhall
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Pontani
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jorjadze
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hilgenfeldt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brujic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000166:cytology; D004285:Dogs; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry*; D061985:Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010316:Particle Size; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004655:Emulsions; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate