title: Velocity fluctuations in electrostatically driven granular media.
abstract: We study experimentally the particle velocity fluctuations in an electrostatically driven dilute granular gas. The velocity distributions have strong deviations from a Maxwellian form over a wide range of parameters. We have found that the tails of the distribution functions are consistent with a stretched exponential law with typical exponents of the order 3/2. Molecular dynamic simulations shows qualitative agreement with experimental data. Our results suggest that this non-Gaussian behavior is typical of most inelastic gases with both short- and long-range interactions.
authors.affiliation: Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Aranson
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Olafsen