Hydrodynamic theory for granular gases

Abstract

A granular gas subjected to a permanent injection of energy is described by means of hydrodynamic equations derived from a moment expansion method. The method uses as reference function not a Maxwellian distribution $f_{\sf M}$ but a distribution $f_0 = Φf_{\sf M}$, such that $Φ$ adds a fourth cumulant $κ$ to the velocity distribution. The formalism is applied to a stationary conductive case showing that the theory fits extraordinarily well the results coming from our molecular dynamic simulations once we determine $κ$ as a function of the inelasticity of the particle-particle collisions. The shape of $κ$ is independent of the size $N$ of the system.