Validity of the Boltzmann equation to describe low-density granular systems

Induced correlations and rupture of molecular chaos by anisotropic dissipative Janus hard disks

A system of smooth "frozen" Janus-type disks is studied. Such disks cannot rotate and are divided by their diameter into two sides of different inelasticities. Taking as a reference a system of colored elastic disks, we find differences in the behavior of the collisions once the anisotropy is included. A homogeneous state, akin to the homogeneous cooling state of granular gases, is seen to arise and the singular behavior of both the collisions and the precollisional correlations are highlighted.

Power-law decay of the velocity autocorrelation function of a granular fluid in the homogeneous cooling state

The hydrodynamic part of the velocity autocorrelation function of a granular fluid in the homogeneous cooling state has been calculated by using mode-coupling theory for a finite system with periodic boundary conditions. The existence of the shearing instability, leading to a divergent behavior of the velocity flow fluctuations, is taken into account. A time region in which the velocity autocorrelation function exhibits a power-law decay, when time is measured by the number of collisions per particle, has been been identified. Also the explicit form of the exponential asymptotic long time decay has been obtained. The theoretical prediction for the power-law decay is compared with molecular dynamics simulation results, and a good agreement is found, after taking into account finite size corrections. The effects of approaching the shearing instability are also explored.

Velocity distribution function and effective restitution coefficient for a granular gas of viscoelastic particles

We perform large-scale event-driven molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for granular gases of particles interacting with the impact-velocity-dependent restitution coefficient ε(v(imp)). We use ε(v(imp)) as it follows from the simplest first-principles collision model of viscoelastic spheres. Both cases of force-free and uniformly heated gases are studied. We formulate a simplified model of an effective constant restitution coefficient ε(eff), which depends on a current granular temperature, and we compute ε(eff) using the kinetic theory. We develop a theory of the velocity distribution function for driven gases of viscoelastic particles and analyze the evolution of granular temperature and of the Sonine coefficients, which characterize the form of the velocity distribution function. We observe that for not large dissipation the simulation results are in an excellent agreement with the theory for both the homogeneous cooling state and uniformly heated gases. At the same time, a noticeable discrepancy between the theory and MD results for the Sonine coefficients is detected for large dissipation. We analyze the accuracy of the simplified model based on the effective restitution coefficient ε(eff), and we conclude that this model can accurately describe granular temperature. It provides also an acceptable accuracy for the velocity distribution function for small dissipation, but it fails when dissipation is large.

Fluctuating hydrodynamics for dilute granular gases: a Monte Carlo study

We investigate hydrodynamic noise in a dilute granular gas during the homogeneous cooling state, by means of a proper application of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) algorithm. The DSMC includes a source of randomization which is not present in molecular dynamics (MD) for inelastic hard disks. Notwithstanding this difference, a fair quantitative agreement is found, including a violation of the fluctuation-dissipation relation for the noise amplitude of the same order observed in MD. This study suggests that deterministic collision dynamics is not an essential ingredient to reproduce, up to a good degree of approximation, hydrodynamic fluctuations in dilute granular gases.

Dynamics of annihilation. I. Linearized Boltzmann equation and hydrodynamics

We study the nonequilibrium statistical mechanics of a system of freely moving particles, in which binary encounters lead either to an elastic collision or to the disappearance of the pair. Such a system of ballistic annihilation therefore constantly loses particles. The dynamics of perturbations around the free decay regime is investigated using the spectral properties of the linearized Boltzmann operator, which characterize linear excitations on all time scales. The linearized Boltzmann equation is solved in the hydrodynamic limit by a projection technique, which yields the evolution equations for the relevant coarse-grained fields and expressions for the transport coefficients. We finally present the results of molecular dynamics simulations that validate the theoretical predictions.

Transport coefficients for the hard-sphere granular fluid

In the preceding paper, linear response methods have been applied to obtain formally exact expressions for the parameters of Navier-Stokes order hydrodynamics. The analysis there is general, applying to both normal and granular fluids with a wide range of collision rules. Those results are specialized here to the case of smooth, inelastic, hard spheres with constant coefficient of normal restitution, for further elaboration. Explicit expressions for the cooling rate, pressure, and transport coefficients are given and compared with the corresponding expressions for a system of elastic hard spheres. The scope of the results for further analytical explorations and possible numerical evaluation is discussed.

Transport properties of dense dissipative hard-sphere fluids for arbitrary energy loss models

The revised Enskog approximation for a fluid of hard spheres which lose energy upon collision is discussed for the case that the energy is lost from the normal component of the velocity at collision but is otherwise arbitrary. Granular fluids with a velocity-dependent coefficient of restitution are an important special case covered by this model. A normal solution to the Enskog equation is developed using the Chapman-Enskog expansion. The lowest order solution describes the general homogeneous cooling state and a generating function formalism is introduced for the determination of the distribution function. The first order solution, evaluated in the lowest Sonine approximation, provides estimates for the transport coefficients for the Navier-Stokes hydrodynamic description. All calculations are performed in an arbitrary number of dimensions.

Scaling and universality of critical fluctuations in granular gases

The total energy fluctuations of a low-density granular gas in the homogeneous cooling state near the threshold of the clustering instability are studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The relative dispersion of the fluctuations is shown to exhibit a power-law divergent behavior. Moreover, the probability distribution of the fluctuations presents data collapse as the system approaches the instability, for different values of the inelasticity. The function describing the collapse turns out to be the symmetric of the one found in several molecular equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems.

Hydrodynamics of probabilistic ballistic annihilation

We consider a dilute gas of hard spheres in dimension d> or =2 that upon collision either annihilate with probability p or undergo an elastic scattering with probability 1-p . For such a system neither mass, momentum, nor kinetic energy is a conserved quantity. We establish the hydrodynamic equations from the Boltzmann equation description. Within the Chapman-Enskog scheme, we determine the transport coefficients up to Navier-Stokes order, and give the closed set of equations for the hydrodynamic fields chosen for the above coarse-grained description (density, momentum, and kinetic temperature). Linear stability analysis is performed, and the conditions of stability for the local fields are discussed.

Energy fluctuations in the homogeneous cooling state of granular gases

Starting from the hierarchy of equations for microscopic densities in phase space, a general theory for fluctuations and correlations in a dilute granular gas of hard particles is developed. Then, the particular case of the homogeneous cooling state is addressed. Explicit expressions for some distributions describing the presence of velocity correlations and their dynamics are obtained. These correlations are inherent to the dissipative dynamics of the collisions. The implications for the behavior of the total energy of the system are analyzed and the results are expressed in terms of a fluctuation-dissipation theorem. The theoretical predictions are shown to be in agreement with results obtained by molecular dynamics simulations, which also indicate that energy fluctuations are well described by a Gaussian distribution.