Spatially heterogenous dynamics in dense, driven granular flows

Interest in the dynamical arrest leading to a fluid -> solid transition in thermal and athermal systems has led to questions about the nature of these transitions. These jamming transitions may be dependent on the influence of extended structures on the dynamics of the system. Here we show results from a simple driven, dissipative, non-equilibrium system which exhibits dynamical heterogeneities similar to those observed in a supercooled liquid which is a system in thermal equilibrium. Observations of the time tau(R)(r) required for a particular particle to move a distance r reveal the existence of large-scale correlated dynamical regions with characteristic time scales chosen from a broad distribution. The mean squared displacement of ensembles of particles with varying characteristic tau(R)(r) reveals an intriguing spatially heterogenous mobility. This suggests that a unified framework for jamming will have to be based on the connection between the nature of these heterogeneities and the effective dynamics. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2007.