Crowd Dynamics, Volume 4

This contributed volume explores innovative research in the modeling, simulation, and control of crowd dynamics. Chapter authors approach the topic from the perspectives of mathematics, physics, engineering, and psychology, providing a comprehensive overview of the work carried out in this challenging interdisciplinary research field.  


The volume begins with an overview of analytical problems related to crowd modeling.  Attention is then given to the importance of considering the social and psychological factors that influence crowd behavior – such as emotions, communication, and decision-making processes – in order to create reliable models.  Finally, specific features of crowd behavior are explored, including single-file traffic, passenger movement, modeling multiple groups in crowds, and the interplay between crowd dynamics and the spread of disease.


Crowd Dynamics, Volume 4 is ideal for mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and other researchers working in the rapidly growing field of modeling and simulation of human crowds.

• Crowd Dynamics
• Crowd Modeling
• Pedestrian Flow Modeling
• Social Distancing Modeling
• Crowd Management

• Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

  Nicola Bellomo

• Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

  Livio Gibelli

​Nicola Bellomo is distinguished professor at the University of Granada and professor emeritus at the Polytechnic University of Torino. He started his career in 1980 when he was called to cover the chair of mathematical physics and applied mathematics due to his scientific achievements on the mathematical theory of the Boltzmann equation and of stochastic differential equations. Subsequently, he moved his scientific interests to the study of living systems, becoming one of the pioneers of the development of active particles methods to the modeling of large systems of self-propelled interacting entities. He is author of two books published by Birkhaüser devoted to this topic. NB delivered, in 2009, the prestigious Shank Lecture at the Vanderbilt University on the modeling of immune competition. He was awarded the “Third Level of Honor” for scientific merits by the President of the Italian Republic.

Livio Gibelli is a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Edinburgh. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics with distinction from the Politecnico di Milano. Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh in 2018, he held research positions at the University of Warwick, the Politecnico di Milano, the Politecnico di Torino, and the University of British Columbia. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers, edited three books, and secured over £2 million in research funding. He currently co-leads a research group of 5 PhD students and 3 post-doctoral researchers. His main research interests include mesoscopic modelling of crowd behaviour, non-equilibrium multiphase flows, continuum descriptions of rarefied gas dynamics and numerical methods for kinetic equations.