Velocity Tails for Inelastic Maxwell Models

Matthieu H. Ernst, Ricardo Brito

Published 2001-11-06Version 1

We study the velocity distribution function for inelastic Maxwell models, characterized by a Boltzmann equation with constant collision rate, independent of the energy of the colliding particles. By means of a nonlinear analysis of the Boltzmann equation, we find that the velocity distribution function decays algebraically for large velocities, with exponents that are analytically calculated.