Two species of particles in a binary granular system typically do not have the same mean kinetic energy, in contrast to the equipartition of energy required in equilibrium. We investigate the role of the heating mechanism in determining the extent of nonequipartition of kinetic energy. In most experiments, different species are unequally heated at the boundaries. We show by event-driven simulations that differential boundary heating affects nonequipartition even in the bulk of the system. This conclusion is fortified by studying numerical and solvable stochastic models without spatial degrees of freedom. In both cases, even in the limit where heating events are rare compared to collisions, the effect of the heating mechanism persists.

• Received 18 October 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.158001