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Phys. Rev. E 71, 032301 (2005) [4 pages]

Velocity distribution in a viscous granular gas

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Alexandre Rosas1,2, Daniel ben-Avraham3, and Katja Lindenberg1,4
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0340, USA
2Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB 58.059-970, Brazil
3Physics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam New York 13699-5820, USA
4Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0340, USA

Received 16 April 2004; revised 12 November 2004; published 17 March 2005

We investigate the velocity relaxation of a viscous one-dimensional granular gas in which neither energy nor momentum is conserved in a collision. Of interest is the distribution of velocities in the gas as it cools, and the time dependence of the relaxation behavior. A Boltzmann equation of instantaneous binary collisions leads to a two-peaked distribution, as do numerical simulations of grains on a line. Of particular note is that in the presence of friction there is no inelastic collapse, so there is no need to invoke additional assumptions such as the quasielastic limit.


©2005 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.71.032301
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.71.032301
PACS: 45.70.−n, 05.20.Dd, 05.70.Ln, 83.10.Rs

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