Edwards Thermodynamics for a Driven Athermal System with Dry Friction

Phys Rev Lett. 2015 Oct 2;115(14):140601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.140601. Epub 2015 Sep 30.

Abstract

We obtain, using semianalytical transfer operator techniques, the Edwards thermodynamics of a one-dimensional model of blocks connected by harmonic springs and subjected to dry friction. The theory is able to reproduce the linear divergence of the correlation length as a function of energy density observed in direct numerical simulations of the model under tapping dynamics. We further characterize analytically this divergence using a Gaussian approximation for the distribution of mechanically stable configurations, and show that it is related to the existence of a peculiar infinite temperature critical point.