Dissipative collapse of the adiabatic piston

TL;DR

This paper investigates the instability of an adiabatic piston separating two granular gases, demonstrating that it collapses to one side due to a new instability, supported by a macroscopic theory and molecular dynamics simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel instability mechanism causing the collapse of an adiabatic piston in granular gases, supported by theoretical and simulation evidence.

Findings

Piston collapses to one side due to instability

Macroscopic theory explains the collapse

Molecular dynamics simulations confirm the phenomenon

Abstract

An adiabatic piston, separating two granular gases prepared in the same macroscopic state, is found to eventually collapse to one of the sides. This new instability is explained by a simple macroscopic theory which is furthermore in qualitative agreement with hard disk molecular dynamics.