Modelling inelastic Granular Media Using Dynamical Density Functional Theory

We construct a new mesoscopic model for granular media using Dynamical Density Functional Theory (DDFT). The model includes both a collision operator to incorporate inelasticity and the Helmholtz free energy functional to account for external potentials, interparticle interactions and volume exclusion. We use statistical data from event-driven microscopic simulations to determine the parameters not given analytically by the closure relations used to derive the DDFT. We numerically demonstrate the crucial effects of each term and approximations in the DDFT, and the importance of including an accurately parametrised pair correlation function.