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Updated: May 13, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Boltzmann statistics in a three-dimensional vibrofluidized granular bed: idealizing the experimental system
C R K Windows-Yule1, D J Parker
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
The importance of the method of energy injection into a vertically vibrated granular bed was investigated using positron emission particle tracking. A comparison was made between two experimental systems. The first was driven by a flat base, the second by a base comprising a monolayer of spheres, each free to move in three dimensions but constrained to the bottom of the system, effectively randomizing energy transfer into the bed. The latter system exhibited more Gaussian velocity distributions, a more isotropic temperature, and a better approximation of molecular chaos than the former, behavior more akin to the idealized situation of white noise forcing than is generally observed in an experimental system.
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