title: Pulse velocity in a granular chain.
abstract: We discuss the applicability of two very different analytic approaches to the study of pulse propagation in a chain of particles interacting via a Hertz potential, namely, a continuum model and a binary collision approximation. While both methods capture some qualitative features equally well, the first is quantitatively good for softer potentials and the latter is better for harder potentials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0340, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosas
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lindenberg