Dynamics of the Granular Jamming Transition.

We experimentally study the force fluctuations felt by a probe disk as it is dragged through a two-dimensional bi-disperse system of randomly packed photo-elastic disks. The fluctuations are studied as a function of packing fraction where the system goes from an unjammed to a jammed state with increasing packing fraction. As the system approaches the Jamming Point, the fluctuations are expected to diverge and become increasingly intermittent. We will present preliminary results of the force fluctuations felt by the probe disk as measured by a force transducer and compare them with visual data as obtained from the force-chains formed by the photo-elastic disks.