Scaling laws for a two-dimensional vibro-fluidized granular material

A simple model for a two-dimensional vibrofluidized granular material is presented. The choice of a mean free path proportional to 1/n1/2, where n is the local number density, leads to scaling laws for the granular temperature, E₀, which fit experimental data significantly better than previously published models. In particular, E₀ is predicted to scale as V4/3, where V is the velocity amplitude of the vibration, and as N1/3, where N is the total number of grains.