Mesoscopic Theory of Granular Fluids

T. P. C. van Noije, M. H. Ernst, R. Brito, J. A. G. Orza

Published 1997-06-09Version 1

Using fluctuating hydrodynamics we describe the slow build-up of long range spatial correlations in a freely evolving fluid of inelastic hard spheres. In the incompressible limit, the behavior of spatial velocity correlations (including $r^{-d}$-behavior) is governed by vorticity fluctuations only and agrees well with two-dimensional simulations up to 50 to 100 collisions per particle. The incompressibility assumption breaks down beyond a distance that diverges in the elastic limit.