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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Noise induces rare events in granular media
Evgeniy Khain1, Leonard M Sander2
1Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan 48309, USA.
Abstract:
The granular Leidenfrost effect [B. Meerson, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 024301 (2003)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.91.024301; P. Eshuis et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 258001 (2005)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.95.258001] is the levitation of a mass of granular matter when a wall below the grains is vibrated, giving rise to a hot granular gas below the cluster. We find by simulation that for a range of parameters the system is bistable: the levitated cluster can occasionally break and give rise to two clusters and a hot granular gas above and below. We use techniques from the theory of rare events to compute the mean transition time for breaking to occur. This requires the introduction of a two-component reaction coordinate.
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