On the existence of stationary states during granular compaction

to be published in EPJE. The original publication will be available at www.europhysj.orgWhen submitted to gentle mechanical taps a granular packing slowly compacts until it reaches a stationary state that depends on the tap characteristics. The properties of such stationary states are experimentally investigated. The influence of the initial state, taps properties and tapping protocol are studied. The compactivity of the packings is determinated. Our results strongly support the idea that the stationary states are genuine thermodynamic states