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Soft granular matter

We consider a dilute system of small hard beads or hard fibers immersed in a very soft gel able to withstand large elastic deformations. Because of its low to very low shear modulus, this system is very sensitive to small forces. We calculate the local deformation induced by a constant volume force, the inclusion weight. We explain how this deformation could be put in evidence by using techniques similar to the PIV method (particle image velocimetry) used to show complex velocity fields in transparent fluids.