Physics of Traffic and Crowds

Traffic flow and physics at first glance appear to have little or nothing in common, lying on the opposite ends of the scientific spectrum. However, the two fields share numerous phenomena such as the propagation of waves, bizarre phase transitions, clogging and jamming effects, and other features commonly found in bulk materials. Physicists, inspired by these similarities, have modified existing models of fluids and other materials to describe both traffic and crowds. If you want to learn more about the relationship between crowds and physics, and the modeling techniques inspired by physical systems, please come to my talk on March 3rd.