title: Survival-time distribution for inelastic collapse.
abstract: In a recent publication [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1142 (1998)] it was argued that a randomly forced particle that collides inelastically with a boundary can undergo inelastic collapse and come to rest in a finite time. Here we discuss the survival probability for the inelastic collapse transition. It is found that the collapse-time distribution behaves asymptotically as a power law in time, and that the exponent governing this decay is nonuniversal. An approximate calculation of the collapse-time exponent confirms this behavior and shows how inelastic collapse can be viewed as a generalized persistence phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Swift
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bray