Clustering of atoms in a model with multiple thermostats

We propose a model for a one-dimensional chain of interacting particles in an external periodic potential. In this model the particles have a complex structure treated in a mean-field fashion: particle collisions are inelastic and also each particle is considered as having its own thermostat. We derived the Fokker-Planck equation for this model and demonstrated that the model has a truly equilibrium ground state. When an external dc force is applied to the atoms, the model exhibits a hysteresis even at high temperatures due to the clustering of atoms with the same velocity. Another effect of clustering is phase separation in the steady state when the system splits into regions of immobile atoms (“traffic jams”) and regions of running atoms.