Empirical evidence for a boundary-induced nonequilibrium phase transition

Abstract

A recently developed theory for boundary-induced phenomena in nonequilibrium systems predicts the existence of various steady-state phase transitions induced by the motion of a shock wave. We provide direct empirical evidence that a phase transition between a free flow and a congested phase occurring in traffic flow on highways in the vicinity of on- and off-ramps can be interpreted as an example of such a boundary-induced phase transition of first order. We analyse the empirical traffic data and give a theoretical interpretation of the transition in terms of the macroscopic current. Additionally we support the theory with computer simulations of the Nagel-Schreckenberg model of vehicular traffic on a road segment which also exhibits the expected second-order transition. Our results suggest ways to predict and to some extent to optimize the capacity of a general traffic network.