Cluster Statistics and Quasisoliton Dynamics in Microscopic Car-following Models

Abstract

Using the optimal velocity (OV) model as an example, we show that in the non-linear regime there is an emergent quantity that gives the extremum headways in the cluster formation, as well as the coexistence curve separating the absolute stable phase from the metastable phase. This emergent quantity is independent of the density of the traffic lane, and determines an intrinsic scale that characterizes the dynamics of localized quasisoliton structures given by the time derivative of the headways. The intrinsic scale is analogous to the "charge" of quasisolitons that controls the strength of interaction between multiple clusters, leading to non-trivial cluster statistics from random perturbations to initial uniform traffic. The cluster statistics depend both on the charge and the density of the traffic lane; the relationship is qualitatively universal for general car-following models.