Granular Gases

Book excerpt: "Granular Gases" are diluted many-particle systems in which the mean free path of the particles is much larger than the typical particle size, and where particle collisions occur dissipatively. The dissipation of kinetic energy can lead to effects such as the formation of clusters, anomalous diffusion and characteristic shock waves to name but a few. The book is organized as follows: Part I comprises the rigorous theoretical results for the dilute limit. The detailed properties of binary collisions are described in Part II. Part III contains experimental investigations of granular gases. Large-scale behaviour as found in astrophysical systems is discussed in Part IV. Part V, finally, deals with possible generalizations for dense granular systems.