Generalised Random Parking for Trapeziums on a Strip

Abstract

In this article, we study a generalisation of Rényi's car-parking problem in which isosceles trapeziums are sequentially deposited on a strip. We derive an explicit formula for the parking constant in terms of the lengths of the two bases, recovering the classical rectangular and triangular models as special cases. We further obtain quantitative finite-size asymptotics for both the expected number and the variance of deposited trapeziums, with convergence rates that depend explicitly on the geometry of the deposited particle. In particular, although the recursive construction involves two different substrate geometries, their variances have the same leading asymptotic density. Finally, we show that the parking constant depends non-monotonically on the ratio of the two base lengths and possesses a unique minimiser, so that the least efficient shape is a genuine trapezium rather than a triangle.