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

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

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

Non-linear effects and shock formation in the focusing of a spherical acoustic wave : Numerical simulations and experiments in liquid helium

The focusing of acoustic waves is used to study nucleation phenomena in liquids. At large amplitude, non-linear effects are important so that the magnitude of pressure or density oscillations is difficult to predict. We present a calculation of these oscillations in a spherical geometry. We show that the main source of non-linearities is the shape of the equation of state of the liquid, enhanced by the spherical geometry. We also show that the formation of shocks cannot be ignored beyond a certain oscillation amplitude. The shock length is estimated by an analytic calculation based on the characteristics method. In our numerical simulations, we have treated the shocks with a WENO scheme. We obtain a very good agreement with experimental measurements which were recently performed in liquid helium. The comparison between numerical and experimental results allows in particular to calibrate the vibration of the ceramics used to produce the wave, as a function of the applied voltage.Comment: 20 pages, 26 figures. Submitted to The European Physical Journal

Bidirectional transport on a dynamic lattice

Bidirectional variants of stochastic many particle models for transport by molecular motors show a strong tendency to form macroscopic clusters on static lattices. Inspired by the fact that the microscopic tracks for molecular motors are dynamical, we study the influence of different types of lattice dynamics on stochastic bidirectional transport. We observe a transition toward efficient transport (corresponding to the dissolution of large clusters) controlled by the lattice dynamics.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Properties of pedestrians walking in line: Stepping behavior

In human crowds, interactions among individuals give rise to a variety of self-organized collective motions that help the group to effectively solve the problem of coordination. However, it is still not known exactly how humans adjust their behavior locally, nor what are the direct consequences on the emergent organization. One of the underlying mechanisms of adjusting individual motions is the stepping dynamics. In this paper, we present first quantitative analysis on the stepping behavior in a one-dimensional pedestrian flow studied under controlled laboratory conditions. We find that the step length is proportional to the velocity of the pedestrian, and is directly related to the space available in front of him, while the variations of the step duration are much smaller. This is in contrast with locomotion studies performed on isolated pedestrians and shows that the local density has a direct influence on the stepping characteristics. Furthermore, we study the phenomena of synchronization -walking in lockstep- and show its dependence on flow densities. We show that the synchronization of steps is particularly important at high densities, which has direct impact on the studies of optimizing pedestrians flow in congested situations. However, small synchronization and antisynchronization effects are found also at very low densities, for which no steric constraints exist between successive pedestrians, showing the natural tendency to synchronize according to perceived visual signals.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Particle interactions and lattice dynamics: Scenarios for efficient bidirectional stochastic transport?

Intracellular transport processes driven by molecular motors can be described by stochastic lattice models of self-driven particles. Here we focus on bidirectional transport models excluding the exchange of particles on the same track. We explore the possibility to have efficient transport in these systems. One possibility would be to have appropriate interactions between the various motors' species, so as to form lanes. However, we show that the lane formation mechanism based on modified attachment/detachment rates as it was proposed previously is not necessarily connected to an efficient transport state and is suppressed when the diffusivity of unbound particles is finite. We propose another interaction mechanism based on obstacle avoidance that allows to have lane formation for limited diffusion. Besides, we had shown in a separate paper that the dynamics of the lattice itself could be a key ingredient for the efficiency of bidirectional transport. Here we show that lattice dynamics and interactions can both contribute in a cooperative way to the efficiency of transport. In particular, lattice dynamics can decrease the interaction threshold beyond which lanes form. Lattice dynamics may also enhance the transport capacity of the system even when lane formation is suppressed.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, 2 table