We investigate the velocity relaxation of a viscous one-dimensional granular
gas, that is, one in which neither energy nor momentum is conserved in a
collision. Of interest is the distribution of velocities in the gas as it
cools, and the time dependence of the relaxation behavior. A Boltzmann equation
of instantaneous binary collisions leads to a two-peaked distribution with each
peak relaxing to zero velocity as 1/t while each peak also narrows as 1/t.
Numerical simulations of grains on a line also lead to a double-peaked
distribution that narrows as 1/t. A Maxwell approximation leads to a
single-peaked distribution about zero velocity with power-law wings. This
distribution narrows exponentially. In either case, the relaxing distribution
is not of Maxwell-Boltzmann form