Minimal Modeling of Driven Dissipative Systems

By simple modeling of dissipative interactions we resolve fundamental questions related to systems far from thermal equilibrium, such as granular materials, foams and colloidal suspensions. We solve the non-Boltzmann energy distribution, demonstrate the violation of time-dependent fluctuation- dissipation relations, show that different measures of effective temperatures generally differ, and address further issues such as ergodicity breaking and detailed balance violation.