Towards granular hydrodynamics in two dimensions

Abstract

We study steady-state properties of inelastic gases in two dimensions in the presence of an energy source. We generalize previous hydrodynamic treatments to situations where high and low density regions coexist. The theoretical predictions compare well with numerical simulations in the nearly elastic limit. It is also seen that the system can achieve a nonequilibrium steady state with asymmetric velocity distributions, and we discuss the conditions under which such situations occur.