Intermittency in dilute granular flows

In this letter, we show that dilute granular systems can exhibit a type of intermittency that has no analogue in gas dynamics. We consider a simple system in which a very dilute set of granular particles falls under gravity through a nozzle. This setting is analogous to the classical problem of high-speed nozzle flow in the study of compressible gases. It is well known that very dilute granular systems exhibit behavior qualitatively similar to gases, and that gas flowing through a nozzle does not exhibit intermittency. Nevertheless, we show that the intermittency in dilute granular nozzle flows can occur and corresponds to complicated transitions between supersonic and subsonic regimes. We also provide detailed explanations of the mechanism underlying this phenomenon.