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Anomalous Fundamental Diagrams in Traffic on Ant Trails

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Book cover Traffic and Granular Flow ’03

Summary

Many insects like ants communicate chemically via chemotaxis. This allows them to build large trail systems which in many respects are similar to human-build highway networks. Using a stochastic cellular automaton model we discuss the basic properties of the traffic flow on existing trails. Surprisingly it is found that in certain regimes the average speed of the ants can vary non-monotonically with their density. This is in sharp contrast to highway traffic. The observations can be understood by the formation of loose clusters, i.e. space regions of enhanced, but not maximal, density. We also discuss the effect of counterflow on the trails.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität zu Köln, 50937, Köln, Germany

    A. Schadschneider & A. John

  2. Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 208016, India

    D. Chowdhury

  3. Department of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, Ryukoku University, Shiga, 520-2194, Japan

    K. Nishinari

Authors
  1. A. Schadschneider
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  2. D. Chowdhury
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  3. A. John
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  4. K. Nishinari
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN, Delft, The Netherlands

    Serge P. Hoogendoorn

  2. Particle Technology, DelftChemTech, TU Delft, Julianalaan 136, 2628 BL, Delft, The Netherlands

    Stefan Luding

  3. Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands

    Piet H. L. Bovy

  4. Physik von Transport und Verkehr, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 1, 47048, Duisburg, Germany

    Michael Schreckenberg

  5. Theoretische Physik, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 1, 47048, Duisburg, Germany

    Dietrich E. Wolf

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© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Schadschneider, A., Chowdhury, D., John, A., Nishinari, K. (2005). Anomalous Fundamental Diagrams in Traffic on Ant Trails. In: Hoogendoorn, S.P., Luding, S., Bovy, P.H.L., Schreckenberg, M., Wolf, D.E. (eds) Traffic and Granular Flow ’03. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-28091-X_34

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