High energy tail in the velocity distribution of a granular gas

Abstract

The Enskog-Boltzmann equation for a homogeneous freely evolving system of smooth hard disks colliding inelastically is solved by means of the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. The distribution function shows an exponential high velocity tail, while it is Gaussian for small velocities. The numerical results are compared with recent predictions of approximate analytical theories and quite good agreement is found. © 1999 The American Physical Society.