Under many conditions, macroscopic grains flow like a fluid; kinetic theory
predicts continuum equations of motion for this granular fluid. In order t
o test: the theory, we perform event-driven molecular simulations of a two-
dimensional gas of inelastic hard disks, driven by contact with a heat bath
. Even for strong dissipation, high densities, and small numbers of particl
es, we find that continuum theory describes the system well. With a bath th
at heats the gas homogeneously, strong velocity correlations produce a slig
htly smaller energy loss due to inelastic collisions than that predicted by
kinetic theory. With an inhomogeneous heat bath, thermal or velocity gradi
ents are induced. Determination of the resulting fluxes allows calculation
of the thermal conductivity and shear viscosity, which are compared ro the
predictions of granular kinetic theory, and which can be used in continuum
modeling of granular flows. The sheer viscosity is close to the prediction
of kinetic theory, while the thermal conductivity can be overestimated by a
factor of 2; in each case, transport is lowered with increasing inelastici
ty. [S1063-651X(99)03310-3].