{
  "abstract": "Representative elementary areas and volumes provide the scale bridge between resolved granular microstructure and continuum-scale material properties, yet they are still commonly selected from the apparent stabilization of a single scalar observable. Such plateaus can be false indicators of representativeness when statistically incompatible regions are averaged together or when long-wavelength structural correlations remain unresolved. We introduce a general representative-support framework for granular materials based on three sequential requirements: statistical admissibility of the sampled domain, persistent convergence of the apparent field mean and the low-wavenumber covariance spectrum, and validation against independent effective properties. The concept is tested on seven large-area backscattered-electron images of Arabian dune sands and mineral-resolved QEMSCAN maps. The structure-only criterion identifies a representative elementary area of $1536$ pixels, corresponding to approximately $2.01~\\mathrm{mm}$. Without property-specific fitting or recalibration, the same physical scale transferred to the QEMSCAN grid $(\\approx 2.04~\\mathrm{mm})$ coincides with the onset of weak size dependence in apparent thermal conductivity, elastic stiffness, and directional Young's moduli. Thus, the representative scale inferred from long-wavelength granular organization independently predicts the convergence of distinct constitutive responses. The results show that representative support should be assigned only after both statistical compatibility and long-range structural convergence have been established. Although demonstrated here on two-dimensional dune-sand sections, the criterion is formulated for granular materials generally and has a direct mathematical extension to three-dimensional voxelized volumes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2606.01248",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Christian Tantardini"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fernando Alonso-Marroquin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Abdullah Alqubalee"
    },
    {
      "name": "Eduardo Garzanti"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cnapgz8v7cnzx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2606.01248",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "cnapgz8v7cnzx",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.01248",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.mtrl-sci"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.soft"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2211|Composite Material Mechanics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7163184808",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.01248",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-15",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cnapgz8v7cnzx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:41Z",
      "native_id": "2606.01248",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.01248"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.mtrl-sci",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Statistical admissibility and long-wavelength structural convergence determine representative support in granular materials",
  "title_text": "Statistical admissibility and long-wavelength structural convergence determine representative support in granular materials",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cnapgz8v7cnzx",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}