We report the statistical properties of spherical steel particles rolling on an inclined surface being driven by an oscillating wall. Strong dissipation occurs due to collisions between the particles and can be tuned by changing the number density. The velocities of the particles are observed to be correlated over large distances comparable to the system size. The distribution of velocities deviates strongly from a Gaussian. The degree of the deviation, as measured by the kurtosis of the distribution, is observed to be as much as four times the value corresponding to a Gaussian, signaling a significant breakdown of the assumption of negligible velocity correlations in a granular system.

• Received 8 January 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.64.050301