Nonequilibrium grand-canonical ensemble built from a physical particle reservoir

Is there a granular potential?

“…It also provides the basis for additional ensembles in statistical mechanics, as well as a variety of molecular simulation techniques, which suggests an equivalent quantity could be useful in the study of granular systems. The concept of a non-equilibrium chemical potential has been explored in the context of driven non-equilibrium steady state systems, [29][30][31] such as in active matter. 31,32 Less is known with respect to the role a chemical potential plays in dense granular systems that are driven, but move between static, jammed states.…”

“…The concept of a non-equilibrium chemical potential has been explored in the context of driven non-equilibrium steady state systems, [29][30][31] such as in active matter. 31,32 Less is known with respect to the role a chemical potential plays in dense granular systems that are driven, but move between static, jammed states. A granular chemical potential has been used to study the possibility of a first order phase transition between disordered and crystalline jammed packings in hard spheres 33 and to motivate the use of partial molar volumes in the analysis of bi-disperse granular packings, 34 but more direct investigations of the granular chemical potential are not available.…”