Abstract
Single clusters in a vibro-fluidized granular gas in connected compartments become unstable at strong shaking. They are experimentally shown to collapse very abruptly. The observed cluster lifetime (as a function of the driving intensity) is analytically calculated within a flux model, making use of the self-similarity of the process. After collapse, the cluster diffuses out into the uniform distribution in a self-similar way, with an anomalous diffusion exponent .
- Received 6 July 2001
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.174302
©2002 American Physical Society