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

Abstract

First we consider a unidirectional flux ω_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=ϕ(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 τin 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 ω_bar_c of the control parameter ω_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 ρ_bar rather than the flux ω_bar is the control parameter. Unequal fluxes ω_bar_A and ω_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.

50 pages, 16 figures; extra references added