Kamien, Randal D.Liu, Andrea J2023-05-232023-05-232007-10-092011-04-05https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/42827We link the thermodynamics of colloidal suspensions to the statistics of regular and random packings. Random close packing has defied a rigorous definition yet, in three dimensions, there is near universal agreement on the volume fraction at which it occurs.We conjecture that the common value of фrcp ≈ 0.64 arises from a divergence in the rate at which accessible states disappear.We relate this rate to the equation of state for a hard-sphere fluid on a metastable, noncrystalline branch.Physical Sciences and MathematicsPhysicsArticle