Traffic and Granular Flow 99 Social, Traffic, and Granular Dynamics [Paperback]

Are there common phenomena and laws in the dynamic behavior of granular materials, traffic, and socio-economic systems? The answers given at the international workshop Traffic and Granular Flow '99 are presented in this volume. From a physical standpoint, all these systems can be treated as (self)-driven many-particle systems with strong fluctuations, showing multistability, phase transitions, non-linear waves, etc. The great interest in these systems is due to several unexpected new discoveries and their practical relevance for solving some fundamental problems of today's societies. This includes intelligent measures for traffic flow optimization and methods from econophysics for stabilizing (stock) markets. Are there common phenomena and laws in the dynamic behavior of granular materials, traffic, and socio-economic systems? The answers given at the international workshop Traffic and Granular Flow '99 are presented in this volume. From a physical standpoint, all these systems can be treated as (self)-driven many-particle systems with strong fluctuations, showing multistability, phase transitions, non-linear waves, etc. The great interest in these systems is due to several unexpected new discoveries and their practical relevance for solving some fundamental problems of today's societies. This includes intelligent measures for traffic flow optimization and methods from econophysics for stabilizing (stock) markets.Foreword.- Preface.- List of Participants.- Social Dynamics.- Recurrence in Physical and Social Systems.- Econophysics: What Can Physicists Contribute to Economics?.- Catastrophe Effects and Optimal Extensions of Transportation Flows in the Developing Urban System: A Review.- Evolutionary Models of Innovation Dynamics.- Universality of Group Decision Making.- Formation of Opinions under the Influence of Competing Agents -a Mean Field Approach.- Search for Intelligence by Motion Analysis ;-).- Anticipatory Traffic Forecast Using Multi-Agent Techniqlã}