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Inelastic collapse of a randomly forced particle

Stephen J. Cornell·Michael R. Swift·Alan J. Bray
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Abstract

We consider a randomly forced particle moving in a finite region, which rebounds inelastically with coefficient of restitution r on collision with the boundaries. We show that there is a transition at a critical value of r, r_c\equiv e^{-π/\sqrt{3}}, above which the dynamics is ergodic but beneath which the particle undergoes inelastic collapse, coming to rest after an infinite number of collisions in a finite time. The value of r_c is argued to be independent of the size of the region or the presence of a viscous damping term in the equation of motion.

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BibTeXRIS

Stephen J. Cornell, Michael R. Swift, Alan J. Bray. 1998-04-21. Inelastic collapse of a randomly forced particle. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.81.1142

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