CONTROLLING THE TEMPERATURE OF ONE-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS COMPOSED OF ELASTIC AND INELASTIC PARTICLES

We have studied systems composed of either elastic or inelastic partic les constrained to move in one dimension and confined on a line by usi ng molecular dynamics (MD) simulation techniques. We have tested sever al ways of modeling a boundary that exchanges energy with the system. Furthermore, we have studied one-dimensional granular systems composed of soft particles under cooling and found that the decay in temperatu re follows a power law T proportional to t(-alpha) similar to the case of rigid particles, but now, the value of alpha depends on the densit y and degree of inelasticity in the system. For systems composed of in elastic particles thermostated by one of the boundaries we find that t he ''extraordinary'' state reported by Y. Du, H. Li, and L. P. Kadanof f [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 1268 (1995)] is an artifact introduced by meth od of providing energy to the system. [S1063-651X(98)05202-7].