{"paper":{"title":"Emergent cohesion via self-caging in maximally entangled rod packings","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":[],"primary_cat":"cond-mat.soft","authors_text":"L. Mahadevan, Yeonsu Jung","submitted_at":"2026-06-02T17:40:22Z","abstract_excerpt":"Random packings of disordered rigid rods exhibit emergent cohesion, as exemplified in a nest of twigs that is self-equilibrated, free-standing structures. We analyze the geometric motif underlying this cohesion using a rod packing that maximizes the average crossing number subject to non-penetration constraints. We show that this protocol leads to self-caging: collective geometric constraints that prevent rod escape even in finite systems with free boundaries, leading to packings that remain mechanically cohesive due to a combination of purely repulsive and frictional interactions. We show tha"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"2606.03952","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"integrity":{"clean":true,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":0,"by_detector":{},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2606.03952/integrity.json","findings":[],"available":true,"detectors_run":[],"snapshot_sha256":"c28c3603d3b5d939e8dc4c7e95fa8dfce3d595e45f758748cecf8e644a296938"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}