Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät

Institut für Physik

Fachgebiet: Theoretische Physik

Betreuer: PD Dr. Reinhard Mahnke



MSc. Julia Hinkel
(e-mail: julia.hinkel@uni-rostock.de )

Applications of Physics of Stochastic Processes to Vehicular Traffic Problems

The thesis is devoted to the description of traffic flow. This topic is actively discussed in different fields of our society and has found a great interest in the physical community. Recently, the traffic volume runs up to such high values, that car congestions become usual and almost the only possible state of the car motion. For this reason, the still open and often discussed questions are the optimal control of the congested traffic and the methods of the jam prevention. For this purpose, the detailed analysis of the possible states of traffic flow dynamics by means of the thorough study of the cooperative motion phenomenon is performed within the framework of this thesis. One of the most interesting property of traffic is the jam formation. Such reasons as lane reductions or dense traffic can surely cause a car congestion. A method to calculate the traffic breakdown is discussed and developed. The results are compared with empirical data measured at German highways.