Solitons and kinks in a general car-following model

We study a car-following model of traffic flow which assumes only that a car's acceleration depends on its own speed, the headway ahead of it, and the rate of change of headway, with only minimal assumptions about the functional form of that dependence. The velocity of uniform steady flow is found implicitly from the acceleration function, and its linear stability criterion can be expressed simply in terms of it. Crucially, unlike in previously analyzed car-following models, the threshold of absolute stability does not generally coincide with an inflection point in the steady velocity function. The Burgers and KdV equations can be derived under the usual assumptions, but the mKdV equation arises only when absolute stability does coincide with an inflection point. Otherwise, the KdV equation applies near absolute stability, while near the inflection point one obtains the mKdV equation plus an extra, quadratic term. Corrections to the KdV equation "select" a single member of the one-parameter set of soliton solutions. In previous models this has always marked the threshold of a finite- amplitude instability of steady flow, but here it can alternatively be a stable, small-amplitude jam. That is, there can be a forward bifurcation from steady flow. The new, augmented mKdV equation which holds near an inflection point admits a continuous family of kink solutions, like the mKdV equation, and we derive the selection criterion arising from the corrections to this equation.Comment: 25 page

College, Career, and Community Writer’s Program (C3WP) Data-driven Reports of Literacy Growth

Through the implementation of mini-units in from the C3WP, a teacher demonstrates that routine argument writing leads to great gains in argument writing literacy

Corrugation of Roads

We present a one dimensional model for the development of corrugations in roads subjected to compressive forces from a flux of cars. The cars are modeled as damped harmonic oscillators translating with constant horizontal velocity across the surface, and the road surface is subject to diffusive relaxation. We derive dimensionless coupled equations of motion for the positions of the cars and the road surface H(x,t), which contain two phenomenological variables: an effective diffusion constant Delta(H) that characterizes the relaxation of the road surface, and a function alpha(H) that characterizes the plasticity or erodibility of the road bed. Linear stability analysis shows that corrugations grow if the speed of the cars exceeds a critical value, which decreases if the flux of cars is increased. Modifying the model to enforce the simple fact that the normal force exerted by the road can never be negative seems to lead to restabilized, quasi-steady road shapes, in which the corrugation amplitude and phase velocity remain fixed.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, typos correcte

Developing a public relations plan for UniverCity 1992 : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Developing a public relations plan for UniverCity, an on-campus event which occurs every two years at Ball State University, Muncie Indiana, requires analysis of previous functions and the development of long-term goals.In this paper, recommendations on how to improve UniverCity's communication tools as well as how to implement research to track audience awareness and participation have been made. The recommendations have been based on public relations literature and principles found in the body of knowledge.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?.

Modelling the economic impact of global warming in a general equilibrium framework

The issue of global warming has become a major topic in the international environmental debate. Alternative climate policy measures can be evaluated with the help of a simulation model that integrates economic and natural science considerations. A fully integrated assessment of the two-way relationship between the world economy and the climate system requires the incorporation of the repercussions of climate change on economic processes into the analysis. This paper seeks to review the contributions of the economic literature dealing with the modelling of climate change impacts. We look at the structure, assumptions, and results of impact studies to illustrate how climate change impacts can be incorporated into Computable General Equilibrium Models (CGEs). As a point of reference a generic general equilibrium model is established and extended to incorporate climate change impacts on the economy

Noise and Dynamical Pattern Selection in Solidification

The overall goal of this project was to understand in more detail how a pattern-forming system can adjust its spacing. "Pattern-forming systems," in this context, are nonequilibrium contina whose state is determined by experimentally adjustable control parameter. Below some critical value of the control system then has available to it a range of linearly stable, spatially periodic steady states, each characterized by a spacing which can lie anywhere within some band of values. These systems like directional solidification, where the solidification front is planar when the ratio of growth velocity to thermal gradient is below its critical value, but takes on a cellular shape above critical. They also include systems without interfaces, such as Benard convection, where it is the fluid velocity field which changes from zero to something spatially periodic as the control parameter is increased through its critical value. The basic question to be addressed was that of how the system chooses one of its myriad possible spacings when the control parameter is above critical, and in particular the role of noise in the selection process. Previous work on explosive crystallization had suggested that one spacing in the range should be preferred, in the sense that weak noise should eventually drive the system to that spacing. That work had also suggested a heuristic argument for identifying the preferred spacing. The project had three main objectives: to understand in more detail how a pattern-forming system can adjust its spacing; to investigate how noise drives a system to its preferred spacing; and to extend the heuristic argument for a preferred spacing in explosive crystallization to other pattern-forming systems

Explosive crystallization mechanism of ultradisperse amorphous films

The explosive crystallization of germanium ultradisperse amorphous films is studied experimentally. We show that crystallization may be initiated by local heating at the small film thickness but it realizes spontaneously at the large ones. The fractal pattern of the crystallized phase is discovered that is inherent in the phenomena of diffusion limited aggregation. It is shown that in contrast to the ordinary crystallization mode the explosive one is connected with the instability which is caused by the self-heating. A transition from the first mechanism to the second one is modelled by Lorenz system. The process of explosive crystallization is represented on the basis of the self-organized criticality conception. The front movement is described as the effective diffusion in the ultrametric space of hierarchically subordinated avalanches, corresponding to the explosive crystallization of elementary volumes of ultradisperse powder. The expressions for the stationary crystallization heat distribution and the steady-state heat current are obtained. The heat needed for initiation of the explosive crystallization is obtained as a function of the thermometric conductivity. The time dependence of the spontaneous crystallization probability in a thin films is examined.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, LaTe

Surface Instability in Windblown Sand

We investigate the formation of ripples on the surface of windblown sand based on the one-dimensional model of Nishimori and Ouchi [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 197 (1993)], which contains the processes of saltation and grain relaxation. We carry out a nonlinear analysis to determine the propagation speed of the restabilized ripple patterns, and the amplitudes and phases of their first, second, and third harmonics. The agreement between the theory and our numerical simulations is excellent near the onset of instability. We also determine the Eckhaus boundary, outside which the steady ripple patterns are unstable.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

Yang-Lee Edge Singularity on a Class of Treelike Lattices

The density of zeros of the partition function of the Ising model on a class of treelike lattices is studied. An exact closed-form expression for the pertinent critical exponents is derived by using a couple of recursion relations which have a singular behavior near the Yang-Lee edge.Comment: 9 pages AmsTex, 2 eps figures, to appear in J.Phys.