Shomeek Mukhopadhyay, Columbia University and Physics Department, Duke University


The Geometry of Sphere Packings

Abstract: The optimum packing of spheres in three and higher dimensions has been a topic of intense scientific interest since the question was posed by Kepler. After Hales celebrated computer based proof of spherical packings in three dimensions a large number of questions still remain unanswered. In this work we will look at a system of spheres whose volume fraction can be changed reversibly to probe in detail the geometry and physics of sphere packings.