2007/09/05 by Anton Šurda, A. Šurda
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Evacuation and Crowd Dynamics #Traffic control and management #Transportation Planning and Optimization #physics.soc-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1742-5468/2008/04/p04017
12 pages, 6 figures, presented at TGF, Paris, 2007
arxiv created 2007/09/05 · openalex publication_date 2008/04/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Statistical mechanics of a small system of cars on a single-lane road is developed. A discrete particle hopping model, not characterized by a kinetic equation, but by the conditional probabilities of car velocities depending on the distance and velocity of the car ahead, is used. Distribution of car velocities for various densities of a group of cars is derived as well as the probabilities of density fluctuations. For cars with high braking ability, free-flow and congested phases are found. Platoons of cars are formed for a system of cars with inefficient brakes. Indications for a first-order phase transition between free-flow and congested phase are presented.