On the validity of linear hydrodynamics for low-density granular flows described by the Boltzmann equation

The direct Monte Carlo simulation method is used to check the validity of t he hydrodynamic description of a low-density granular flow in the linear re gion about the homogeneous cooling state. Good agreement is found between t he simulation results and the hydrodynamic equations obtained recently from the Boltzmann equation by using a generalized Chapman-Enskog procedure. In particular, the dependence of the transport coefficients on the coefficien t of restitution predicted by the theory is verified.