Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics in a granular gas fluidized by a non-uniform stochastic field

Abstract

We show a case of steady flow in a granular gas that, for small shear rates, is accurately described by Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics, even for high inelasticity. The (low density) granular gas is composed of identical inelastic spheres and is fluidized by a temperature field produced by a stochastic volume force plus thermal walls. We prove that the theoretical Navier-Stokes transport coefficients exhibit good agreement with numerical solutions of the corresponding the kinetic equation (direct simulation Monte Carlo method) in the steady state.