Crossing pedestrian traffic flows,diagonal stripe pattern, and chevron effect

We study two perpendicular intersecting flows of pedestrians. The latter are represented either by moving hard core particles of two types, eastbound (\symbp) and northbound (\symbm), or by two density fields, \rhop_t(\brr) and \rhom_t(\brr). Each flow takes place on a lattice strip of width $M$ so that the intersection is an $M\times M$ square. We investigate the spontaneous formation, observed experimentally and in simulations, of a diagonal pattern of stripes in which alternatingly one of the two particle types dominates. By a linear stability analysis of the field equations we show how this pattern formation comes about. We focus on the observation, reported recently, that the striped pattern actually consists of chevrons rather than straight lines. We demonstrate that this `chevron effect' occurs both in particle simulations with various different update schemes and in field simulations. We quantify the effect in terms of the chevron angle $\Delta\theta_0$ and determine its dependency on the parameters governing the boundary conditions.Comment: 36 pages, 22 figure

Continuous and first-order jamming transition in crossing pedestrian traffic flows

After reviewing the main results obtained within a model for the intersection of two perpendicular flows of pedestrians, we present a new finding: the changeover of the jamming transition from continuous to first order when the size of the intersection area increases.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Exact domain wall theory for deterministic TASEP with parallel update

Domain wall theory (DWT) has proved to be a powerful tool for the analysis of one-dimensional transport processes. A simple version of it was found very accurate for the Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process (TASEP) with random sequential update. However, a general implementation of DWT is still missing in the case of updates with less fluctuations, which are often more relevant for applications. Here we develop an exact DWT for TASEP with parallel update and deterministic (p=1) bulk motion. Remarkably, the dynamics of this system can be described by the motion of a domain wall not only on the coarse-grained level but also exactly on the microscopic scale for arbitrary system size. All properties of this TASEP, time-dependent and stationary, are shown to follow from the solution of a bivariate master equation whose variables are not only the position but also the velocity of the domain wall. In the continuum limit this exactly soluble model then allows us to perform a first principle derivation of a Fokker-Planck equation for the position of the wall. The diffusion constant appearing in this equation differs from the one obtained with the traditional `simple' DWT.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Chaos properties and localization in Lorentz lattice gases

The thermodynamic formalism of Ruelle, Sinai, and Bowen, in which chaotic properties of dynamical systems are expressed in terms of a free energy-type function - called the topological pressure - is applied to a Lorentz Lattice Gas, as typical for diffusive systems with static disorder. In the limit of large system sizes, the mechanism and effects of localization on large clusters of scatterers in the calculation of the topological pressure are elucidated and supported by strong numerical evidence. Moreover it clarifies and illustrates a previous theoretical analysis [Appert et al. J. Stat. Phys. 87, chao-dyn/9607019] of this localization phenomenon.Comment: 32 pages, 19 Postscript figures, submitted to PR

Frozen shuffle update for an asymmetric exclusion process on a ring

We introduce a new rule of motion for a totally asymmetric exclusion process (TASEP) representing pedestrian traffic on a lattice. Its characteristic feature is that the positions of the pedestrians, modeled as hard-core particles, are updated in a fixed predefined order, determined by a phase attached to each of them. We investigate this model analytically and by Monte Carlo simulation on a one-dimensional lattice with periodic boundary conditions. At a critical value of the particle density a transition occurs from a phase with `free flow' to one with `jammed flow'. We are able to analytically predict the current-density diagram for the infinite system and to find the scaling function that describes the finite size rounding at the transition point.Comment: 16 page

Lattice gas with ``interaction potential''

We present an extension of a simple automaton model to incorporate non-local interactions extending over a spatial range in lattice gases. {}From the viewpoint of Statistical Mechanics, the lattice gas with interaction range may serve as a prototype for non-ideal gas behavior. {}From the density fluctuations correlation function, we obtain a quantity which is identified as a potential of mean force. Equilibrium and transport properties are computed theoretically and by numerical simulations to establish the validity of the model at macroscopic scale.Comment: 12 pages LaTeX, figures available on demand ([email protected]

Chaotic properties of systems with Markov dynamics

We present a general approach for computing the dynamic partition function of a continuous-time Markov process. The Ruelle topological pressure is identified with the large deviation function of a physical observable. We construct for the first time a corresponding finite Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy for these processes. Then, as an example, the latter is computed for a symmetric exclusion process. We further present the first exact calculation of the topological pressure for an N-body stochastic interacting system, namely an infinite-range Ising model endowed with spin-flip dynamics. Expressions for the Kolmogorov-Sinai and the topological entropies follow.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in the Physical Review Letter

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in a two-lane model for bidirectional overtaking traffic

First we consider a unidirectional flux \omega_bar of vehicles each of which is characterized by its `natural' velocity v drawn from a distribution P(v). The traffic flow is modeled as a collection of straight `world lines' in the time-space plane, with overtaking events represented by a fixed queuing time tau imposed on the overtaking vehicle. This geometrical model exhibits platoon formation and allows, among many other things, for the calculation of the effective average velocity w=\phi(v) of a vehicle of natural velocity v. Secondly, we extend the model to two opposite lanes, A and B. We argue that the queuing time \tau in one lane is determined by the traffic density in the opposite lane. On the basis of reasonable additional assumptions we establish a set of equations that couple the two lanes and can be solved numerically. It appears that above a critical value \omega_bar_c of the control parameter \omega_bar the symmetry between the lanes is spontaneously broken: there is a slow lane where long platoons form behind the slowest vehicles, and a fast lane where overtaking is easy due to the wide spacing between the platoons in the opposite direction. A variant of the model is studied in which the spatial vehicle density \rho_bar rather than the flux \omega_bar is the control parameter. Unequal fluxes \omega_bar_A and \omega_bar_B in the two lanes are also considered. The symmetry breaking phenomenon exhibited by this model, even though no doubt hard to observe in pure form in real-life traffic, nevertheless indicates a tendency of such traffic.Comment: 50 pages, 16 figures; extra references adde