Jamming and stress propagation in particulate matter

We present simple models of particulate materials whose mechanical integrity arises from a jamming process. We argue that such media are generically "fragile", that is, they are unable to support certain types of incremental loading without plastic rearrangement. In such models, fragility is naturally linked to the marginal stability of force chain networks (granular skeletons) within the material. Fragile matter exhibits novel mechanical responses that may be relevant to both jammed colloids and cohesionless assemblies of poured, rigid grains.