  We investigate velocity probability distribution functions (PDF) of sheared
hard-sphere suspensions. As observed in our Stokes flow simulations and
explained by our single-particle theory, these PDFs can show pronounced
deviations from a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. The PDFs are symmetric around
zero velocity and show a Gaussian core and exponential tails over more than six
orders of magnitude of probability. Following the excellent agreement of our
theory and simulation data, we demonstrate that the distribution functions
scale with the shear rate, the particle volume concentration, as well as the
fluid viscosity.

Soft Condensed Matter;Statistical Mechanics