The void percolation threshold is calculated for a distribution of overlapping spheres with equal radii, and for a binary-sized distribution of overlapping spheres, where half of the spheres have radii twice as large as the other half. Using systems much larger than previous work, we determine a much more precise value for the percolation thresholds and correlation length exponent. The value of the percolation threshold for the monodisperse case is shown to be $0.0301\pm 0.0003,$ whereas the value for the bidisperse case is shown to be $p_c=0.0287\mathrm{}\pm \mathrm{0.0005.}$ The fact that these are significantly different is in contrast with previous, less precise works that speculated that the threshold might be universal with respect to sphere size distribution.

• Received 26 January 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.62.68