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Physicists Paul Krapivsky (Boston University) and Sidney Redner (Santa Fe Institute) have decided to use mathematics to answer a time-honored question: what is the best place to park your car. The criterion? To find the parking space that minimizes the time spent in the lot.
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Smart decisions
"Mathematics allows you to make smart decisions," said Redner. "This allows you to tackle a complex world with ideas."
In their new study, physicists establish three simple parking strategies on an idealized single-row parking. They call their strategies; sweet, optimistic and cautious.
Meek refers to drivers who take the first available space. Optimistic indicates drivers who play to find a space right next to the entrance. Meanwhile, cautious refers when the drivers take the middle lane.
The authors used several techniques to calculate the relative benefits of each strategy. To begin with, the discrete strategy reflected a dynamic observed in microtubules that provide scaffolding within living cells. They therefore used an equation describing the length of a microtubule to calculate the chain of "soft" cars located at the end of the lot.
"Sometimes there are links between things that seem to have no connection," Redner said. "In this case, the connection to the microtubule dynamics solved the problem."
The optimistic strategy was described by a differential equation, while the cautious strategy was represented by a simulation allowing physicists to calculate on average the average density of points and the number of rewinds needed.
It's a time-honored question: Where do you park your car?
Sidney Redner and Paul Krapivsky from SFI to @BU_Tweets opposed "soft", "cautious" and "optimistic" strategies to each other in their new document entitled @IOPPublishing.
Look to see which strategy is best: https: //t.co/xuhdJZGydh
– Santa Fe Institute (@ science) September 19, 2019
Conservative strategy wins
In the end, the cautious strategy was chosen, followed closely by the optimistic strategy.
Redner, however, acknowledges that his approach sacrifices the real world's applicability in exchange for mathematical knowledge. "If you really want to be an engineer, you have to consider the speed at which people drive, the real concepts of parking and spaces, etc.," he said.
"Once you start to be completely realistic, [every parking situation is different] and you lose the opportunity to explain anything ".
Nevertheless, for Redner, the exercise focused on the joy of thinking analytically in everyday situations.
"We live in an overcrowded society and we still experience overcrowding car park a lot, the traffic patterns, you name it, "he said. If you can look at it with the right eyes, you can report something. "
The research is published in this week's issue Journal of statistical mechanics.
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