Kinetics of a frictional granular motor

Abstract

Within the framework of a Boltzmann-Lorentz equation, we analyze the dynamics of a granular rotor immersed in a bath of thermalized particles in the presence of a frictional torque on the axis. In numerical simulations of the equation, we observe two scaling regimes at low and high bath temperatures. In the large friction limit, we obtain the exact solution of a model corresponding to asymptotic behavior of the Boltzmann-Lorentz equation. In the limit of large rotor mass and small friction, we derive a Fokker-Planck equation for which the exact solution is also obtained.

4 pages, 4 Figures, To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett