Phase Transitions in Two-Dimensional Traffic Flow Models

TL;DR

This paper introduces two 2D lattice models to analyze city traffic flow, revealing phase transitions from free flow to jams and structural changes in jams, with implications for large-scale systems.

Contribution

It presents novel simple lattice models capturing phase transitions and structural transformations in urban traffic flow.

Findings

Identified a first-order phase transition in traffic models

Discovered structural transformations within jammed states

Relevance of phase behavior in infinite systems

Abstract

We introduce two simple two-dimensional lattice models to study traffic flow in cities. We have found that a few basic elements give rise to the characteristic phase diagram of a first-order phase transition from a freely moving phase to a jammed state, with a critical point. The jammed phase presents new transitions corresponding to structural transformations of the jam. We discuss their relevance in the infinite size limit.