https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050325
Diffusive properties of motion on a bumpy plane
1
Groupe Matière Condensée et Matériaux, Campus
de Beaulieu, Université de Rennes I, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France
2
Institut Non-Linéaire de Nice, Université de Nice-Sophia
Antipolis, 1361 route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne,
France
3
HLRZ, Forchungszentrum, 52425 Jülich, Germany
Corresponding author: a liliane.samson@univ-rennes1.fr
Received:
13
March
1997
Revised:
10
December
1997
Accepted:
17
February
1998
Published online: 15 June 1998
We report on experiments studying the statistical properties of the motion of balls on a bumpy surface. This motion is found to be diffusive. In the direction of the mean flow, the coefficient of diffusion is found to attain a constant value, independent of the size of the ball and the inclination angle. The diffusion transverse to the mean flow is characterized by a coefficient which decreases with the inclination of the plane, and scales with the size of moving ball.
PACS: 05.20.-y – Statistical mechanics / 64.60.-i – General studies of phase transitions
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1998