  We study the properties of a one-dimensional (1D) granular gas consisting of
$N$ hard rods on a line of length $L$ (with periodic boundary conditions). The
particles collide inelastically and are fluidized by a heat bath at temperature
$T_b$ and viscosity $\gamma$. The analysis is supported by molecular dynamics
simulations. The average properties of the system are first discussed, focusing
on the relations between granular temperature $T_g=m< v^2>$, kinetic pressure
and density $\rho=N/L$. Thereafter, we consider the fluctuations around the
average behavior obtaining a slightly non-Gaussian behavior of the velocity
distributions and a spatially correlated velocity field; the density field
displays clustering: this is reflected in the structure factor which has a peak
in the $k \sim 0$ region suggesting an analogy between inelastic hard core
interactions and an effective attractive potential. Finally, we study the
transport properties, showing the typical sub-diffusive behavior of 1D
stochastically driven systems, i.e. $<|x(t)-x(0)|^2 > \sim Dt^{1/2}$ where $D$
for the inelastic fluid is larger than the elastic case. This is directly
related to the peak of the structure factor at small wave-vectors.
