Memory formation in jammed hard spheres

Understand

Liquids equilibrated below an onset density share similar inherent states, while above that density their inherent states markedly differ.

• Although this phenomenon was first reported in simulations over 20 years ago, the physical origin of this memory remains controversial.
• Its absence from mean-field descriptions, in particular, has long cast doubt on its thermodynamic relevance.
• Motivated by a recent theoretical proposal, we reassess the onset phenomenology in simulations using a fast hard sphere jamming algorithm and find it both thermodynamically and dimensionally robust.