Collision Statistics of Driven Polydisperse Granular Gases

We present a dynamical model of two-dimensional polydisperse granular gases with fractal size distribution, in which the disks are subject to inelastic mutual collisions and driven by standard white noise. The inhomogeneity of the disk size distribution can be measured by a fractal dimension df. By Monte Carlo simulations, we have mainly investigated the effect of the inhomogeneity on the statistical properties of the system in the same inelasticity case. Some novel results are found that the average energy of the system decays exponentially with a tendency to achieve a stable asymptotic value, and the system finally reaches a nonequilibrium steady state after a long evolution time. Furthermore, the inhomogeneity has great influence on the steady-state statistical properties. With the increase of the fractal dimension df, the distributions of path lengths and free times between collisions deviate more obviously from expected theoretical forms for elastic spheres and have an overpopulation of short distances and time bins. The collision rate increases with df, but it is independent of time. Meanwhile, the velocity distribution deviates more strongly from the Gaussian one, but does not demonstrate any apparent universal behavior.     

Steady State Properties of One-Dimensional Non-uniform Granular Gases Subjected to Gaussian White Noise Driving

We present a model of non-uniform granular gases in one-dimensional case, whose granularity distribution has the fractal characteristic. We have studied the nonequilibrium properties of the system by means of Monte Carlo method. When the typical relaxation time T of the Brownian process is greater than the mean collision time To, the energy evolution of the system exponentially decays, with a tendency to achieve a stable asymptotic value, and the system finally reaches a nonequilibrium steady state in which the velocity distribution strongly deviates from the Gaussian one. Three other aspects have also been studied for the steady state： the visualized change of the particle density, the entropy of the system and the correlations in the velocity of particles. And the results of simulations indicate that the system has strong spatial clustering; Furthermore, the influence of the inelasticity and inhomogeneity on dynamic behaviors have also been extensively investigated, especially the dependence of the entropy and the correlations in the velocity of particles on the restitute coefficient e and the fractal dimension D.     

Global Pressure of One-Dimensional Polydisperse Granular Gases Driven by Gaussian White Noise

We study the global pressure of a one-dimensional polydisperse granular gases system for the first time,in which the size distribution of particles has the fractal characteristic and the inhomogeneity is described by a fractal dimension D. The particles are driven by Gaussian white noise and subject to inelastic mutual collisions. We define the global pressure P of the system as the impulse transferred across a surface in a unit of time, which has two contributions,one from the translational motion of particles and the other from the collisions. Explicit expression for the global pressure in the steady state is derived. By molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate how the inelasticity of collisions and the inhomogeneity of the particles influence the global pressure. The simulation results indicate that the restitution coefficient e and the fractal dimension D have significant effect on the pressure.     

Global Pressure of One-Dimensional Polydisperse Granular Gases Driven by Gaussian White Noise

We study the global pressure of a one-dimensional polydisperse granular gases system for the first time, in which the size distribution of particles has the fractal characteristic and the inhomogeneity is described by a fractal dimension D. The particles are driven by Gaussian white noise and subject to inelastic mutual collisions. We define the global pressure P of the system as the impulse transferred across a surface in a unit of time, which has two contributions, one from the translational motion of particles and the other from the collisions. Explicit expression for the global pressure in the steady state is derived. By molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate how the inelasticity of collisions and the inhomogeneity of the particles influence the global pressure. The simulation results indicate that the restitution coefficient e and the fractal dimension D have significant effect on the pressure.     

Large Deviations in Weakly Interacting Boundary Driven Lattice Gases

One-dimensional, boundary-driven lattice gases with local interactions are studied in the weakly interacting limit. The density profiles and the correlation functions are calculated to first order in the interaction strength for zero-range and short-range processes differing only in the specifics of the detailed-balance dynamics. Furthermore, the effective free-energy (large-deviation function) and the integrated current distribution are also found to this order. From the former, we find that the boundary drive generates long-range correlations only for the short-range dynamics while the latter provides support to an additivity principle recently proposed by Bodineau and Derrida.     

Non Equilibrium Current Fluctuations in Stochastic Lattice Gases

We study current fluctuations in lattice gases in the macroscopic limit extending the dynamic approach for density fluctuations developed in previous articles. More precisely, we establish a large deviation principle for a space-time fluctuation j of the empirical current with a rate functional I(j). We then estimate the probability of a fluctuation of the average current over a large time interval; this probability can be obtained by solving a variational problem for the functional I. We discuss several possible scenarios, interpreted as dynamical phase transitions, for this variational problem. They actually occur in specific models. We finally discuss the time reversal properties of I and derive a fluctuation relationship akin to the Gallavotti-Cohen theorem for the entropy production.     

Singular Energy Distributions in Driven and Undriven Granular Media

We study the kinetic theory of driven and undriven granular gases, taking into account both translational and rotational degrees of freedom. We obtain the high-energy tail of the stationary bivariate energy distribution, depending on the total energy E and the ratio of rotational energy E _w to total energy. Extremely energetic particles have a unique and well-defined distribution f(x) which has several remarkable features: x is not uniformly distributed as in molecular gases; f(x) is not smooth but has multiple singularities. The latter behavior is sensitive to material properties such as the collision parameters, the moment of inertia and the collision rate. Interestingly, there are preferred ratios of rotational-to-total energy. In general, f(x) is strongly correlated with energy and the deviations from a uniform distribution grow with energy. We also solve for the energy distribution of freely cooling Maxwell Molecules and find qualitatively similar behavior.     

Injected Power Fluctuations in 1D Dissipative Systems

Using fermionic techniques, we compute exactly the large deviation function (ldf) of the time-integrated injected power in several one-dimensional dissipative systems of classical spins. The dynamics are T=0 Glauber dynamics supplemented by an injection mechanism, which is taken as a poissonian flipping of one particular spin. We discuss the physical content of the results, specifically the influence of the rate of the Poisson process on the properties of the ldf.     

Kinetic Theory and Memory Effects of Homogeneous Inelastic Granular Gases under Nonlinear Drag

We study a dilute granular gas immersed in a thermal bath made of smaller particles with masses not much smaller than the granular ones in this work. Granular particles are assumed to have inelastic and hard interactions, losing energy in collisions as accounted by a constant coefficient of normal restitution. The interaction with the thermal bath is modeled by a nonlinear drag force plus a white-noise stochastic force. The kinetic theory for this system is described by an Enskog–Fokker–Planck equation for the one-particle velocity distribution function. To get explicit results of the temperature aging and steady states, Maxwellian and first Sonine approximations are developed. The latter takes into account the coupling of the excess kurtosis with the temperature. Theoretical predictions are compared with direct simulation Monte Carlo and event-driven molecular dynamics simulations. While good results for the granular temperature are obtained from the Maxwellian approximation, a much better agreement, especially as inelasticity and drag nonlinearity increase, is found when using the first Sonine approximation. The latter approximation is, additionally, crucial to account for memory effects such as Mpemba and Kovacs-like ones.     

Fluctuations in apparent mass at the bottom of granular columns due to different arrangements

We report the fluctuations in apparent mass at the bottom of granular columns due to various configurations. It is found that the fluctuations decrease with the increase in the ratio of diameters of silo to grain. For the arrangement of different grain layers in a column, the higher fluctuations appear when the larger grains are stacked at the bottom layer while reversing the order of grain-layers leads to smaller fluctuations. We attribute this behavior to the randomness in the direction of frictional forces between the grains and the confining wall. Moreover, due to polydisperse media, the development of inhomogeneous force transmission in grains may cause this to happen.     

Macroscopic Determinism in Noninteracting Systems Using Large Deviation Theory

We consider a general system of n noninteracting identical particles which evolve under a given dynamical law and whose initial microstates are a priori independent. The time evolution of the n-particle average of a bounded function on the particle microstates is then examined in the large-n limit. Using the theory of large deviations, we show that if the initial macroscopic average is constrained to be near a given value, y, then the macroscopic average at time t converges in probability as n to a value _t(y) given explicitly in terms of a canonical expectation. Some general features of the graph of _t(y) versus t are examined, particularly in regard to continuity, symmetry, and convergence.     

Macroscopic Determinism in Interacting Systems Using Large Deviation Theory

We consider the quasi-deterministic behavior of systems with a large number, n, of deterministically interacting constituents. This work extends the results of a previous paper [J. Statist. Phys. 99:1225–1249 (2000)] to include vector-valued observables on interacting systems. The approach used here, however, differs markedly in that a level-1 large deviation principle (LDP) on joint observables, rather than a level-2 LDP on empirical distributions, is employed. As before, we seek a mapping _t on the set of (possibly vector-valued) macrostates such that, when the macrostate is given to be a ₀ at time zero, the macrostate at time t is _t (a ₀) with a probability approaching one as n tends to infinity. We show that such a map exists and derives from a generalized dynamic free energy function, provided the latter is everywhere well defined, finite, and differentiable. We discuss some general properties of _t relevant to issues of irreversibility and end with an example of a simple interacting lattice, for which an exact macroscopic solution is obtained.     

Nonlinear Ramsey Interferometry of Fermi Superfluid Gases in a Double-Well Potential

The nonlinear Ramsey interferometry of Fermi superfluid gases in a double-well potential is investigated in this paper. We found that the frequency of the Ramsey fringes exactly reflects the strength of nonlinearity, or the scattering length of the Fermi superfluid gases. The cases of sudden limit, the adiabatic limit and the general case are studied. The analytical result is in good agreement with the numerical ones. The adiabatic condition is proposed. In general situation, the zero-frequency point emerge. Finally the possible applications of the theory are discussed.     

Self-trapping and Macroscopic Tunnelling of Superfluid Fermi Gases in Multi-well Potentials

We study the tunnelling dynamics of superfluid Fermi gases trapped in multi-well system along the BEC-BCS crossover. Within the hydrodynamical model and by using the multi-mode approximation, the self-trapping dynamics of superfluid Fermi gases in multi-well system are obtained numerically. We find that the self-trapping to diffusion transition strongly depends on the well number. When the well number is less than three, the self-trapped state takes place easier on the BEC side than that on the BCS side. However, when the well number is larger than three, the self-trapped state takes place easier on the BCS side instead of the BEC side. Furthermore, by considering a superfluid of 40K atoms, we obtain the zero-mode and π-mode Josephson frequencies of coherent atomic oscillations in double-well system. It is noteworthy that the Josephson mode, especially, the existence of π-mode frequency strongly depends on the atoms number on the BCS side.     

Self-trapping and Macroscopic Tunnelling of Superfluid Fermi Gases in Multi-well Potentials

We study the tunnelling dynamics of superfluid Fermi gases trapped in multi-well system along the BEC-BCS crossover. Within the hydrodynamical model and by using the multi-mode approximation, the self-trapping dynamics of superfluid Fermi gases in multi-well system are obtained numerically. We find that the self-trapping to diffusion transition strongly depends on the well number. When the well number is less than three, the self-trapped state takes place easier on the BEC side than that on the BCS side. However, when the well number is larger than three, the self-trapped state takes place easier on the BCS side instead of the BEC side. Furthermore, by considering a superfluid of ⁴⁰K atoms, we obtain the zero-mode and π-mode Josephson frequencies of coherent atomic oscillations in double-well system. It is noteworthy that the Josephson mode, especially, the existence of π-mode frequency strongly depends on the atoms number on the BCS side.     

A Wall Effect in the Photothermal Beam Deflection Response of Infrared-Absorbing Gases

FTIR photothermal beam deflection (PBD) spectroscopy was used to record PBD spectra of IR-absorbing gases in presence of IR-absorbing and non-absorbing solids. The presence of the solid, IR-absorbing or not, causes asymmetry at the juncture of the IR and probe laser     

Granular gas of viscoelastic particles in a homogeneous cooling state

Kinetic properties of a granular gas of viscoelastic particles in a homogeneous cooling state are studied analytically and numerically. We employ the most recent expression for the velocity-dependent restitution coefficient for colliding viscoelastic particles, which allows us to describe systems with large inelasticity. In contrast to previous studies, the third coefficient a₃ of the Sonine polynomials expansion of the velocity distribution function is taken into account. We observe a complicated evolution of this coefficient. Moreover, we find that a₃ is always of the same order of magnitude as the leading second Sonine coefficient a₂; this contradicts the existing hypothesis that the subsequent Sonine coefficients a₂,a₃…, are of an ascending order of a small parameter, characterizing particles inelasticity. We analyze evolution of the high-energy tail of the velocity distribution function. In particular, we study the time dependence of the tail amplitude and of the threshold velocity, which demarcates the main part of the velocity distribution and the high-energy part. We also study evolution of the self-diffusion coefficient D and explore the impact of the third Sonine coefficient on the self-diffusion. Our analytical predictions for the third Sonine coefficient, threshold velocity and the self-diffusion coefficient are in a good agreement with the numerical finding.     

A Calculation of the Electron Temperature of Complex Plasma of Noble Gases Mixture in CCRF Discharge

In this paper the results of studying of the electron temperature of buffer and complex plasmas in mixtures of noble gases (helium + argon) in capacitively coupled radiofrequency (CCRF) discharge are presented. The optical properties of dusty plasma in argon, helium and their mixtures have been studied using optical diagnostic methods. Based on spectral lines of plasma forming gases, the dependence of the electron temperature on gas pressure and discharge power has been determined. The axial distribution of electron temperature in the interelectrode gap has been measured. Measurements have been made using an RF compensated electric probe. The comparison of the experimental results shows that admixture of a small amount of argon to helium leads to a decrease in the electron temperature of buffer plasma. The presence of dust particles in the plasma causes an increase in the electron temperature. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)