Granular matter: A wonderful world of clusters in far-from-equilibrium systems

We review several theoretical and experimental methods of modeling and investigating granular matter far from equilibrium. The theoretical methods include an extension of the classical Boltzmann equation to inelastic gases, scalar internal degrees of freedom, and Hamiltonian-like grain–grain interactions; the experimental technique is concerned with thermal properties of electrically conducting clusters. We discuss the results, focusing on phenomena nonexistent in physics of gases, fluids or solids, e.g. anomalous temperature gradients or electric resistance. One of the models is used to study the interplay between classical and self-organized criticality.