A GEOMETRIC APPROACH TO INELASTIC COLLAPSE

We show in this note how to interpret logarithmic spiral tilings as one-dimensional particle systems undergoing inelastic collapse. By deforming the spirals ap-propriately, we can simulate collisions among particles with distinct or varying coefficients of restitution. Our geometric constructions provide a strikingly simple illustration of a widely studied phenomenon in the physics of dissipative gases: the collapse of inelastic particles.