Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!wivax!decvax!harpo!floyd!cmcl2!philabs!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!knutsen@SRI-UNIX From: knutsen%SRI-UNIX@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Re: physical laws of freeway traffic? Message-ID: <2182@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Wed, 15-Jun-83 15:52:00 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.2182 Posted: Wed Jun 15 15:52:00 1983 Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jun-83 07:40:47 EDT Lines: 15 From: Andrew KnutsenI would think that a lot of the work done on gasses could be applied here. The analogy that popped into my mind was the plasma in a tokomak, and the instabilities that form there. Also the beam in an intersecting storage ring accelerator, where you also have onramps and accidents, and even maybe a fast lane where the accelerating fields are stronger. Neither of the latter two are really very well understood though -- at a tour of SLAC PEP I learned that they rely pretty heavily on the intuition of the operator to stablize the beam. The interactions between the "particles" (cars) arent as regular as with electrons and protons, but they are there. The force is usually repulsive (for safety), but the "herd instinct" results in some long-range attraction too, I think.