\documentclass[reqno]{amsart} \usepackage{hyperref} \usepackage{amssymb} \AtBeginDocument{{\noindent\small \emph{Electronic Journal of Differential Equations}, Vol. 2015 (2015), No. 74, pp. 1--12.\newline ISSN: 1072-6691. URL: http://ejde.math.txstate.edu or http://ejde.math.unt.edu \newline ftp ejde.math.txstate.edu} \thanks{\copyright 2015 Texas State University - San Marcos.} \vspace{9mm}} \begin{document} \title[\hfilneg EJDE-2015/74\hfil Solvability of a free-boundary problem] {Solvability of a free-boundary problem describing the traffic flows} \author[A. Meirmanov, S. Shmarev, A. Senkebayeva \hfil EJDE-2015/74\hfilneg] {Anvarbek Meirmanov, Sergey Shmarev, Akbota Senkebayeva} \address{Anvarbek Meirmanov \newline Kazakh-British Technical University, Tole Bi 59, Almaty, Kazakhstan} \email{anvarbek@list.ru} \address{Akbota Senkebayeva \newline Kazakh-British Technical University, Tole Bi 59, Almaty, Kazakhstan} \email{akbota.senkebayeva@gmail.com} \address{Sergey Shmarev \newline Department of Mathematics, University of Oviedo, c/Calvo Sotelo s/n, 33007, Oviedo, Spain} \email{shmarev@uniovi.es} \thanks{Submitted February 19, 2015. Published March 24, 2015.} \subjclass[2000]{35B27, 46E35, 76R99} \keywords{Traffic flows; gas dynamics; free boundary problem} \begin{abstract} We study a mathematical model of the vehicle traffic on straight freeways, which describes the traffic flow by means of equations of one-dimensional motion of the isobaric viscous gas. The corresponding free boundary problem is studied by means of introduction of Lagrangian coordinates, which render the free boundary stationary. It is proved that the equivalent problem posed in a time-independent domain admits unique local and global in time classical solutions. The proof of the local in time existence is performed with standard methods, to prove the global in time existence the system is reduced to a system of two second-order quasilinear parabolic equations. \end{abstract} \maketitle \numberwithin{equation}{section} \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section] \allowdisplaybreaks \section{Introduction} This article is devoted to study one of the mathematical models of the vehicle traffic on straight freeways. This is a phenomenological macroscopic model which describes the traffic flow by means of equations of motion of a viscous gas. The first model of this type was proposed in \cite{1,2} where the flow of vehicles was considered as the one-dimensional flow of a compressible fluid. This model is often called LWR model. The underlying assumptions of this approach are \begin{enumerate} \item a bijective relation between the velocity $v(x,t)$ and density $\rho(x,t)$ of the fluid expressed by the condition \begin{equation} \label{1.1} v(x,t)=V(\rho(x,t)), \end{equation} \item the mass conservation law (the number of vehicles does not change with time). \end{enumerate} It is assumed that the function $V$ satisfies the condition $V'(\rho)<0$. Let us denote by $Q(\rho) = \rho V(\rho)$ the intensity of the flow of vehicles (the number of vehicles passing through a given cross-section per unit time) and claim that $Q''(\rho) < 0$ for the single-lane traffic. The assumption of mass conservation is expressed by the equality $$ \int^b_{a}{\rho(x,t + \Delta)dx} - \int^b_{a}{\rho(x,x)dx} = -\int^{t + \Delta}_{t}{Q(\rho(b,\tau))d \tau} +\int^{t + \Delta}_{t}{Q(\rho(a,\tau))d \tau}. $$ It follows that for every rectangular contour $\Gamma$ in the half-plane $t\geq0, x\in \mathbb{R}$ with the sides parallel to the coordinate axes one has \begin{equation} \oint_\Gamma \rho(x,t) - Q(\rho(x,t))dt = 0. \label{1.3} \end{equation} At every point where $\rho(t, x)$ is smooth $$ \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial t} + \frac{\partial (v \rho)}{\partial x} = \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial t} + \frac{\partial (V(\rho) \rho)}{\partial x}; $$ that is, \begin{equation} \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial t} + \frac{\partial (Q(\rho))}{\partial x} = 0. \label{1.4} \end{equation} Equation \eqref{1.4} is endowed with the initial conditions of Riemann's type: \begin{equation}\label{1.5} \rho(0, x) = \begin{cases} \rho_{-}, & x < x_{-},\\ \rho_0(x), & x_{-} \leq x \leq x_{+}, \\ \rho_{+}, & x \geq x_{+}, \end{cases} \end{equation} where $\rho^\pm$ is a constant. The Cauchy problem \eqref{1.4}, \eqref{1.5} arises, for example, in the mathematical description of traffic congestion. A number of model problems for the conservation law \eqref {1.4}, such as the problem of traffic lights or evolution of local congestions, is considered in \cite{LSU}. It turns out that equation \eqref{1.4} always has a solution that satisfies equation \eqref{1.3} and the initial condition \eqref{1.5} in a suitable weak sense, but this solution need not be unique. In 1963, Tanaka proposed another definition of $V(\rho)$ for the single-lane traffic (see \cite{4}). Let us assume that the velocity of vehicles can not exceed a threshold value $v_{max}$ and represent the density by the formula $$ \rho(v) = \frac{1}{d(v)}, $$ where $ d(v) = L + c_1v+c_2v^2$ is the average (safe) distance between the vehicles at a predetermined velocity of the flow $v$, $L$ is the average length of the vehicle, $c_1$ is the time that expresses the driver reaction, $c_2$ is the factor of proportionality for the stopping distance. From the formulas for $d(v)$ and $\rho(v)$ one can derive the dependence \eqref{1.1} for $V(\rho)$, which satisfies the condition $V'(\rho)<0$. The model of Tanaka is a LWR model with the state equation \eqref{1.1} of a special form, this model plays a very important role in the contemporary studies of the traffic flows \cite{4}. It was mentioned yet in 1955 but rigorously formulated only in 1974 by J. Whitham, \cite{3}, that the farsightedness of the drivers can be taken into account in the following way: $$ v(t, x) = V(\rho(x,t)) - \frac{D(\rho(x,t))}{\rho(x,t)} \frac{\partial \rho( x,t)}{\partial x}\quad \text{with $D(\rho) > 0$}. $$ Substituting this expression into the conservation law for the number of vehicles, \begin{equation} \label{conserv} \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial t} + \frac{\partial (\rho v)}{\partial x} = 0, \end{equation} we arrive at the Burgers equation \begin{equation} \label{1.6} \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial t} + \frac{\partial Q(\rho)}{\partial x} = \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \big(D(\rho) \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial x}\big), \end{equation} which expresses the conservation law. The novelty of equation \eqref{1.6} consists in the fact that the driver reduces the velocity with the increment of the traffic density in front of his vehicle and increases the velocity otherwise. The hydrodynamic model \eqref{1.1}, \eqref{1.5}, \eqref{1.6} is called the Whitham model. Another model was proposed by Payne in 1971 \cite{Payne}. The model relies on the conservation law \eqref{conserv} with an independent of $\rho$ velocity $v$, which means that the desired speed of the vehicle is not attained immediately. The following relation between the desired and the real velocity is accepted: $$ \frac{d}{dt}v = \frac{\partial v}{\partial t} + v \frac{\partial v}{\partial x} = -\frac{1}{\tau} \Big(v - \Big(V(\rho) - \frac{D(\rho)}{\rho} \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial x}\Big)\Big), $$ where $v$ is a real speed, while $$ V(\rho) - \frac{D(\rho)}{\rho} \frac{\partial \rho}{\partial x} $$ is the desired speed. The parameter $\tau$ is of order 1 sec., it expresses the rate of convergence. The resulting system of equations reads \begin{equation} \frac{\partial}{\partial t} \begin{pmatrix} \rho \\ v \end{pmatrix} + \begin{pmatrix} v & \rho \\ D / (\tau \rho) & v \end{pmatrix} \cdot \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \begin{pmatrix} \rho \\ v \end{pmatrix} = \frac{1}{\tau} \begin{pmatrix} 0\\ V - v \end{pmatrix}. \label{1.7} \end{equation} The system is strictly hyperbolic because the matrix of $\frac{\partial}{\partial x}$ has different real eigenvalues. In 1995, Daganzo \cite{8} pointed out several shortcomings of Payne's model, as well as of some models proposed later. It was shown, in particular, that the strong spatial inhomogeneity of the initial density may lead to negative velocities. These drawbacks were corrected in the recent modifications of the model. In conclusion, let us mention the Helbing-Euler-Navier-Stokes third-order model proposed in 1995, \cite{7,9}. In this model, the Payne system is complemented by the energy conservation law, which is represented by an equation for a new unknown $\theta$ that describes the dispersion of velocity about some mean value. The second equation of system \eqref{1.7}, understood as an equation for the mean velocity, includes an additional term which depends on $\theta$. \section{Formulation of the problem} \subsection{Euler variables} Our model of the traffic of vehicles relies on the hypotheses of continuum mechanics, that is, it is assumed that the traffic flow is continuous and possesses the principal characteristics of continuous media such as density, pressure and velocity. It is to be noted here that if the initial velocity of a gas equals zero, the motion may be caused by the inhomogenuity of density. Unlike gas dynamics, the initially motionless vehicle can start moving only if an exterior force is applied. Since in the system of equations of a viscous gas the gradient of the pressure is the only component that makes the gas moving, to avoid the vehicle motion in the absence of exterior forces one has to assume that the pressure is constant, i.e., the gas is isobaric. For this reason we regard the traffic flow as the one-dimensional flow of an isobaric viscous gas. The flow is described by the system of two differential equations for the velocity $u(x,t)$ and density $\rho(x,t)$ \begin{gather} \label{2.1} \frac{\partial{\rho}}{\partial{t}} + \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}(\rho u) = 0, \\ \label{2.2} \frac{\partial}{\partial t} (\rho u) + \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}(\rho u^2) =\frac{\partial}{\partial x} \big(\mu \rho\frac{\partial u}{\partial x}\big) + \rho F \end{gather} on the interval $-L0$. Here $\mu= const > 0$ is the viscosity of the flow, $F(u)$ denotes a given external force (acceleration), which is assumed to satisfy the following conditions: \begin{gather*} F\in C^2(-\infty,\infty), \quad F(u)\geqslant 0,\\ F(u)=F_0=\text{positive const. for }-\infty< u\leqslant u_{*} -\delta,\\ F'(u)\leqslant0\text{ for }u_{*} -\delta\leqslant u\leqslant u_{*}, \text{ and $F(u)=0$ for $u>u_{*}=$ positive const.}. \end{gather*} System \eqref{2.1}--\eqref{2.2} is complemented by the initial and boundary conditions \begin{gather} \label{2.3} u(\pm L,t)=0, \\ \label{2.4} u(x,0)=u_0(x),\quad \rho(x,0)=\rho_0(x), \end{gather} where \begin{equation} \label{2.5} 0\leqslant u_0(x) \leqslant u_{*}, \quad 0\leqslant\rho_0(x)\leqslant \rho^{+}= \text{const.} \end{equation} The study will be confined to the special situation when the initial density $\rho_0$ has the form \begin{equation} \label{2.6} \begin{gathered} \rho_0(x)\equiv0\quad{for } -L \leqslant x <0, \\ 0<\rho^{-}\leqslant \rho_0(x)\leqslant \rho^{+}, \quad \rho^{-} =\text{const. for } 0\leqslant x\leqslant 1, \\ \rho_0(x)\equiv0 \quad{for } 10$ transforms into the time-independent domain $Q=\{y:00$ there exists a unique solution $X_0,X_1\in H^{1+\frac{\alpha}{2}}[0,T]$ and $ u, \rho\in H^{2+\alpha, \frac{2+\alpha}{2}}(\overline{\Omega}_T)$ of problem \eqref{2.1}-\eqref{2.11} such that \[ 0\leqslant u(x,t)\leqslant u_{*},\quad 0<\rho_{*}^{-1}<\rho(x,t)<\rho_{*}\quad\text{for }x\in\Omega(t),\; 0\leqslant t0$. The function $w$ satisfies in $Q_T$ the equation \begin{equation} \label{5.2} \frac{\partial{w}}{\partial{t}}+\alpha\,w-\frac{\partial}{\partial y} (\frac{\mu}{J^2} \frac{\partial w}{\partial y})=F\,e^{-\alpha t}. \end{equation} Let us assume that $w$ attains its negative minimum at a point $(y_0,t_0)\in Q_T$. Then the left-hand side of equation \eqref{5.2} is strictly negative because \[ \frac{\partial{w}}{\partial{t}}(y_0,t_0)\leqslant 0,\quad \frac{\partial{w}}{\partial{y}}(y_0,t_0)= 0,\quad \frac{\partial^2{w}}{\partial{y}^2}(y_0,t_0)\geqslant 0,\quad \alpha\,w(y_0,t_0)<0, \] while the right-hand side remains strictly positive. This contradiction means that $w$ is nonnegative in $Q_T$. If $w$ attains its local positive maximum at a point $(y_0,t_0)$, it is necessary that at this point \[ \frac{\partial{w}}{\partial{t}}(y_0,t_0)\geqslant 0,\quad \frac{\partial{w}}{\partial{y}}(y_0,t_0)= 0,\quad \frac{\partial^2{w}}{\partial{y}^2}(y_0,t_0)\leqslant 0 \] and by equation \eqref{5.2}, \[ \alpha\,w(y_0,t_0)\,e^{\alpha t_0}\leqslant F\big(w(y_0,t_0)\,e^{\alpha t_0}\big). \] Since $F(v)=0$ for $v>u_{*}$ by assumption, we have \[ %\label{5.3} w(y_0,t_0)\,e^{\alpha t_0}\leqslant u_{*}, \] whence \[ v(y,t)=w(y,t)\,e^{\alpha t}\leqslant w(y_0,t_0)\,e^{\alpha t} \leqslant u_{*}\,e^{\alpha\,(t-t_0)}\quad \text{in $Q_T$}. \] It remains to notice that by Hopf's principle \cite{Friedman,Friedman-1} and the boundary conditions \eqref{2.17} $v$ cannot attain its maximal and minimal values on the lateral boundaries of $Q_T$. Since $\alpha>0$ is arbitrary, estimate \eqref{5.1} follows. \subsection{Corollaries of the maximum principle} In what follows we choose $T