The stress response function in granular materials

We discuss the relevance the study of the stress response function in granular materials, i.e. of the stress profile under a layer of grains submitted to a localized force at its top surface. We first present a quantitative comparison between the experimental measure of this function with isotropic elastic predictions. We then give a description in terms of a model of force chains. To cite this article: J.-P. Bouchaud et al., C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 141–151.